Through every news and social platform, a quick search will yield limitless reports (and plenty of gossip) on Taylor Swift’s recent catalog purchase. The man who bought it for $300 million is the owner of her former label — and she is sickened. If there is anything to...
Copyrights
Napolean, the Opera, and How Copyright Encourages Creativity
For decades, the argument has been made that artists find inspiration from works in the public domain. Over the last several decades, though, corporations with big money involved in maintaining the copyright registrations to their intellectual property assets have...
How Long Does Copyright Protection Last?
Copyright registrations provide powerful legal protection. However, a registration does not last forever. The duration of a copyright registration depends on a number of factors. If you have questions about a specific work, the best course of action is to consult...
Banana Costume Protectable by Copyright, Preliminary Injunction Upheld on A-Peel
Written by Guest Author, Marks Gray Associate Logan McEwen On August 1, 2019, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Silvertop Associates Inc., dba Rasta Imposta v. Kangaroo Manufacturing Inc., 2019 WL 3484240. At issue was whether the...
Court Rules Inaccuracies in a Copyright Application Invalidates the Registration
When it comes to the law, details matter. You need to ensure the accuracy of all information you provide when registering a trademark or filing for copyright. Otherwise, you could find the legal protection of your mark or creative work invalidated due to a...
Copyright Fair Use: Distinction between Parody and Satire
Written by Guest Author, Marks Gray Associate Logan McEwen In the United States, a copyright-protected work can be utilized without authorization of the copyright owner if it is a “fair use” of the copyright-protected work. Fair uses of copyright-protected works...
Filing a Copyright Registration for Architectural Works Is Now Easier
In the past, obtaining a copyright registration for architectural works was a long and annoying process. Designers would have to submit physical plans and paper applications to secure the rights to their design. In the digital age, these requirements became even more...
What’s Allowed under Fair Use of Copyright-Protected Work?
Copyright registrations protect owners’ original works from other people reproducing, distributing, displaying, and/or performing the original works or creating derivative works. But the laws surrounding copyright protection are not exactly sealed tight. References to...