Written by Guest Blogger John Barry, 3L student at Florida State University, College of Law Can you be held liable for copyright infringement if your social media posts are too similar to another person’s posts? One plaintiff thinks so. This question has been raised...
Intellectual Property
A Washing Machine Chime & Copyright Fraud on YouTube
The internet has opened a broad field of intellectual property questions since its inception in the 1990s as varied as each new function introduced by an app or website. The increasing availability of media online has made infringement as easy as clicking “Save image...
A Tale of Two “Whataburgers” in North Carolina: Whataburger vs. What-A-Burger #13
In the landscape of trademarks, a point of tension exists between small and large businesses. Namely, well-funded corporations have the resources to dominate trademark real estate and to go after competitors. Yet, trademark names are limited. Trademarks of similar...
Reggaeton Artists Face Massive Copyright Suit
Can a beat that underlies an entire genre of music become the basis of a copyright infringement claim? A recent case raising this question about reggaeton music has taken a small step forward – not toward a definite answer, but toward further exploration of a...
Crystal Broughan: Video Series – How much does it cost to register my trademark? – Episode 4 | Where are you using your trademark?
Where are you selling the products and services – locally or nationwide over the internet? If you are only selling your products in the city where you live and have not expanded beyond those boundaries, then you only need to obtain a state trademark registration. If...
Amazon US Website Found to Infringe UK Trademarks
If your company is authorized to sell a certain brand of products in a place other than its country of origin, could you still get hit with a trademark infringement claim? It is possible. In a recent case decided by the High Court in the UK, Amazon was found liable...
Is the Cease-and-Desist against Spotify a Stunt – or a Valid Copyright Complaint?
Spotify has been under fire for various reasons as of late. The UMAW has criticized their low streaming pay rates, at less than a penny per listen. Indie musicians have reacted vociferously to the change of its royalty structure, which now pays nothing to artists with...
Can One Business Use Another’s Trademark as a Keyword?
If your business’s trademark is used by a competitor in an invisible way, does that count as commercial use that could constitute trademark infringement? You might assume the answer is “No,” since there would likely not exist evidence of typical infringements like...