In this week’s episode, Josh Escovedo and Scott Hervey discuss the litigation over Andy Warhol’s series of portraits of the artist Prince (Andy Warhol Foundation v Goldsmith). Their discussion covers the Second Circuit decision in favor of Goldsmith, the photographer whose image Warhol used to create the Prince Portraits, and the holding that Warhol’s renditions were not transformative enough to be fair use. The decision overturned a lower court decision in favor of the Warhol Foundation.

Production Note: This episode includes a discussion of the high-profile litigation between the artist Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press over Fairey’s iconic “Hope” poster of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Throughout the episode, Scott and Josh mispronounce Fairey’s last name as “Farley.”  They offer apologies to viewers and to the artist.

View the episode on the Briefing YouTube channel, here.

An audio version of this episode can be found on “The Briefing from the IP Law Blog” podcast, available on Apple/Spotify/Stitcher/Google platforms or online here.

In this week’s episode, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the complex process of clearing titles for Film and Television. They cover recent high-stakes litigation around entertainment titles, including Stouffer v. National Geographic Partners LLC,  Jon Astor-White v. Daniel Strong (Empire), and the “Honey Badger” case.

View the video conversation on YouTube.

An audio version of this episode can be found on “The Briefing from the IP Law Blog” podcast on Apple/Spotify/Google platforms, or listen online here.

 

5-4 Opinion Offers Judicial Workaround by Giving More Oversight to the USPTO Director

In U.S. v. Arthrex, case number 19-1434; Smith & Nephew v. Arthrex, case number 19-1452; and Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew, case number 19-1458, the Supreme Court of the United States recently held that Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) judges are unconstitutionally appointed.  But, the Court also held that providing the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with more oversight over PTAB rulings will remedy the unconstitutionality of the PTAB judges.

Continue Reading Supreme Court Finds PTAB Judges Unconstitutional

I’m experiencing déjà vu. I wrote about a similar topic prior to Allegiant Air becoming the official sponsor of the Las Vegas stadium that the Raiders now call home. In fact, I covered the topic at a time when Allegiant Air claimed that it was not involved in any negotiations for the naming rights of any professional sports facilities despite having filed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for use of Allegiant in connection with stadium or training facilities.

Continue Reading Will Starbucks Become the Next Corporate Sponsor of a Professional Sports Facility?

New York’s post mortem right-of-publicity statute recently came into effect.  Its previous right-of-publicity laws were an extension of its statutory right of privacy which provided that “any person whose name [or likeness] is used within [New York] for advertising [or trade] purposes without . . . written consent” can sue for an injunction and damages.  Because the statute addressed privacy concerns that dissipated at death, such rights did not extend post mortem.  New York courts have held that because the state’s law affords no common law right of publicity – the statutory grant is exclusive.

Continue Reading I See Dead People…Filing Lawsuits In New York