The Onion recently filed a headline-grabbing amicus brief intended to defend the rights of Ohio amateur satirist Anthony Novak. Novak created the “City of Parma Police Department” Facebook account, admittedly to exercise his “fundamental American right” of “[m]ocking our government officials.” His posts to the account included mock advertisements for a “Pedophile Reform event” and a program intended to starve the homeless to encourage them to leave the area. Soon after, the police department obtained a search warrant, seized his phone and laptop, and arrested Novak for disrupting police functions.

Continue Reading Area Man Defends the Rights of Satirists: The Onion’s Headline-Grabbing Amicus Brief Defends the Right to Deadpan Parody

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a copyright dispute between Carroll Shelby Licensing and the widow of the late filmmaker H. B. Halicki regarding copyright protection granted to Eleanor, a car featured in the 1974 film “Gone in 60 Seconds.”
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: What Makes a Character Protectable Under Copyright

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a copyright dispute, in which the heirs of the author who inspired the movie “Top Gun” claim that the film’s sequel infringes on their copyright to the story.

Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Top Gun Maverick – Right Into The Copyright Lawsuit Zone

A recent case filed by famous choreographer Kyle Hanagami is set to test the boundaries of copyright law in video games and on social media.

Mr. Hanagami is a popular choreographer with a large YouTube presence.  He won the 2020 iHeart Music Award for Favorite Music Video Choreography for BlackPink’s “Kill This Love” and holds the title for YouTube’s most viewed choreography video of all time. Crucially, he also holds the copyright to the dance to the Charlie Puth song “How Long.”
Continue Reading Choreographer Challenges Fortnite’s Use of His Copyrighted Dance Moves

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law BlogScott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a dispute between Jerry West and HBO, over his portrayal in the Lakers docudrama “Winning Time”.
Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Jerry West Thinks His Portrayal in HBO’s “Winning Time” is a Loser