Recently, Eagles Ltd. (the “Eagles”), the entity in control of legendary rock band The Eagles’ business affairs, filed a lawsuit against Hotel California Baja, LLC for trademark infringement. While I’m sure most of us are familiar with the Eagles’ song Hotel California, it may come as a surprise to most trademark aficionados that the Eagles
The Jury Is Still Out on What “Registration” Means Under Section 411 of the Copyright Act.
The Copyright Act provides that “Registration” of a copyright is a precondition to filing suit for copyright infringement. 17 U.S.C. § 411(a). We are still trying to figure out exactly when registration occurs.
While copyright registration is voluntary, the Copyright Act provides several incentives for a copyright owner to register a copyright, one of
Googling Google
“I googled it …” has become ubiquitous in every day conversation. Many of us refer to “googling” as the act of searching the internet regardless of whether we use the Google search engine to do so. But has our everyday use of the verb “googling” rendered the Google trademark unprotectable? “Nope,” said the Ninth Circuit
Lawsuits are the Inevitable Cost of YouTube Success
Whenever there is a report of a YouTube creator being sued for copyright infringement, the response from the creator and the community seems to be one of shock and surprise. The truth is, successful YouTube content creators should not be surprised when they get sued for copyright infringement. Any person or company that creates content
The Fabric of Copyright Infringement: Obtaining Summary Judgment on Copying Element
Generally, the issue of copyright infringement presents issues of fact to be decided by a jury. However, when evidence that a design is so “substantially similar” to a copyrighted design, the trial court can find infringement as a matter of law and grant summary judgment to the copyright owner. The Ninth Circuit recently approved of