Controversial Ninth Circuit Ruling May Limit the Availability of the DMCA Safe Harbor for Websites Relying on Moderators

A controversial ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was issued last week, which has the potential to discourage websites from relying on moderators for user-generated content going forward. In the case of Mavrix Photographs LLC v. LiveJournal, Inc., No. 14-56596 (9th Cir. filed April 7, 2017), the Court ruled that agency law applied…

Read More

Getty Images Copyright Dispute Against Microsoft to Challenge Legality of Recently Released Widget

Getty Images made news in the copyright world this week by filing a complaint against Microsoft Corporation in the Southern District of New York for “infringing and facilitating the massive infringement of [its] copyrights” through its release of the new Bing Image Widget service. To review the full complaint, click here. The case is significant…

Read More

Supreme Court to Hear Streaming TV Over the Internet Case

Like many cable and satellite TV consumers these days, I have been closely following the new options on the market for streaming TV service and hoping that the day will soon come when I can significantly reduce my monthly subscription costs without cutting off my access to live TV.   With the cost of living…

Read More

Apple Trademark Dispute with Proview Becomes a Global Fight

Apple’s trademark dispute with Proview is now being fought on two fronts: at the local level in China and here in Silicon Valley. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Proview has filed a lawsuit in Santa Clara County Superior Court claiming that Apple committed fraud when it used a company called IP Application Development…

Read More

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Issues Ruling Which Affirms Rights in an Exclusive License to Joint Intellectual Property

I just spent about five hours on the phone with multiple clients over the last few weeks explaining to them the ins and outs of exclusively licensing joint intellectual property, so I was pleased to see the decision of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation v. Xenon Pharmaceuticals, Appeal…

Read More

Should Your Business Conduct an IP Licensing Audit?

Entrepreneur.com ran an article this month, which advised business owners to practice “preventive lawyering” or “litigation avoidance” by conducting audits in some key areas of the business such as contracts and intellectual property. I agree with the advice in this article. Regardless of their size, businesses need to conduct a periodic review of their operations…

Read More

Supreme Court to Consider Fantasy Baseball Case: Do Players’ Names and Statistics Constitute Major League Baseball Intellectual Property?

The Supreme Court is considering whether to take a case which would address the issue of whether major league baseball players’ names and statistics constitute the intellectual property of Major League Baseball, requiring the payment of a royalty fee. Fox News reported on the case as follows: St. Louis-based company called CBC Distribution and Marketing…

Read More