In this second part of our look at the January 8 oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, we will consider what legal professionals are surmising from the justices' questions and...
Copyright Law
Part 1: High court hears argument in Fourth Estate copyright case
On January 8, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the important copyright infringement case of Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, LLC. We previously told readers about this dispute that will require the highest court to make a...
Youth theater infringes copyrights in musicals
Student, youth, nonprofit, and local theater companies must be careful to obtain permission and licensing to stage copyrighted plays and musicals. Even performance groups that may think of themselves as amateur or small scale must consider whether they are crossing...
Court refuses to dismiss photographer’s copyright claims
At our law firm, we represent photographers and other creative artists in a variety of copyright matters, including negotiating, drafting and reviewing licenses for use of copyrighted materials. We also bring and defend copyright infringement suits.On January 4, a...
Judge finds insufficient evidence of DMCA violation
The Internet provides a vast platform on which creative works in written, photographic, film and video formats can be reproduced. Unfortunately, this also creates a bigger universe within which parties can violate copyrights by posting protected works online without...
Many copyrighted works lose copyright protection in New Year
On New Year's Day, 2019, hundreds of thousands of creative works will enter the public domain when their copyright protections expire. An article in Smithsonian Magazine explains the interesting phenomena of this massive expiration after 20 years with no copyright...
Claims against Fortnite allege violation of rights in dance moves
Three celebrities have filed lawsuits against Epic Games, the creator of the wildly popular video game Fortnite, for allegedly using their signature dance sequences in the game without their permission and without giving them credit, reports The Washington Post. The...
Music Modernization Act: Landmark music copyright law signed
In an unusual move in this time of deep division, sweeping federal copyright legislation updating copyright law for the digital age was unanimously passed in both the House and Senate. The president signed it on October 11, 2018. Federal lawmakers all got on...
Court gives second try at climbing the “Stairway to Heaven”
At , in , we represent people in copyright infringement disputes involving a variety of creative works, including those involving music and sound recordings. In current copyright news, the owner of the copyright to an obscure 1960s rock...
Introduction to the work-made-for-hire doctrine in copyright
At our law firm, we represent employers, employees and independent contractors in disputes over ownership of copyrights to creative works conceived during working relationships between the parties. In these disputes, the issue is often whether the creative work is a...