Copyright Law

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by Jeff Pietsch

In April 2009, the Fourth Circuit upheld a summary judgment granted in favor of an online technology system designed to prevent plagiarism in a copyright infringement action. (A.V. v. iParadigms, L.L.C., (4th Cir. Apr. 16, 2009)). The plaintiffs, four high school students who were required to use the system by their schools, sued iParadigms’ for using their written works through the company’s “Turnitin Plagiarism Detection Service.” The plaintiffs argued that Turnitin’s archiving of the students’ works in its system constituted a violation of their copyrights under the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §101 et seq. The court, however, disagreed with this assessment and ruled that the archiving of students’ works falls under the fair use doctrine, which allows the use of copyrighted works for the purposes of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.

Continue Reading Does an Anti-Plagiarism Service Violate Students’ Copyrights?

by W. Scott Cameron

Most everyone knows that federal copyright laws protect an author’s expression of an idea. When someone infringes a protected work, either by copying or distributing it without permission, the copyright owner is generally entitled to damages. In Dream Games of Arizona v. PC Onsite, — F.3d — (April 2, 2009), the Ninth Circuit addressed a question of first impression in the circuit: Whether illegal use or operation of a work by the copyright owner precludes the award of actual or statutory damages for copyright infringement. Continue Reading A Dream Case: Statutory Damages for Infringement of Illegal Bingo Gambling

By Scott Hervey 

Have you ever been into a used record store (remember those) and picked up a used CD that had the following language either on the CD case or on the CD itself:

FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY

This CD is the property of the record company and is licensed to the intended recipient for personal use only. Acceptance of this CD shall constitute an agreement to comply with the terms of the license. Resale or transfer of possession is not allowed and may be punishable under federal and state laws.

Have you ever wondered how on earth can the record label control the sale of these CDs. (An obvious question given the fact that the CD in question is for sale in a used record store.) According to a recent federal court case, they cant.Continue Reading Not Just For Promotional Use

by Zachary Wadlé 

Recent news reports tell of an impending legal battle between the artist of the painting at left and the Associated Press who owns the photograph upon which the painting was based. The legal battle will determine whether the ubiquitous painting of the 44th President is an original piece of artwork, or one that improperly misappropriated a photograph protected by copyright laws.

But what of President Obama’s rights in his own likeness? Can any artist commandeer the President’s likeness for his/her own commercial purposes without fear of legal repercussions? Could President Obama stop such commercial use of his likeness if he was so inclined? The answer depends on how “transformative” of President Obama’s likeness the work of art is.Continue Reading “Transformative” or Not?

By Audrey A. Millemann

The beginning of the year is a good time to review your clients’ intellectual property needs. The first and most important thing to do is to determine what intellectual property the client has. Once the intellectual property has been identified, the means of protecting it can be analyzed and a plan for establishing protection set up. 

What is Intellectual Property?

Almost anything can constitute intellectual property. IP may fall into one or more of the following categories: inventions that can be patented, expression that is copyrightable, names or logos that are trademarks, and information that is a trade secret. Continue Reading Intellectual Property Basics