The musical Jersey Boys depicts the history of a popular musical quartet, the Four Seasons (“the Band”), from its origins in Belleville, New Jersey, in the 1950s, to the Band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In the late 1980s, Band member Tommy DeVito partnered with Rex Woodard to write a book telling “the whole story” of The Four Seasons. The result of this partnership was an autobiography of DeVito (“the Work”), ghostwritten by Woodard and completed before the Play was developed.
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In 2008, Congress passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization of Intellectual Property Act of 2008 (“PRO IP Act”) for the “critical” purpose of “improving IP enforcement both domestically and internationally.” Among other changes, the PRO IP Act created the position of Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (“IPEC”) within the Executive Office of the President.
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Genius Media Group (Plaintiff) is a “digital media company,” one of whose “primary services is the development and maintenance of annotated music lyrics.” LyricFind is a Canadian company that maintains a database of music lyrics. Both Plaintiff and LyricFind “license lyrics for display and distribution from music publishers.” Google “owns and operates the internet’s dominant search platform.” Pursuant to an agreement “LyricFind provides lyrics to Google for use in Google’s search results.”
Robin Bain insisted that she registered the copyright for the motion picture Nowhereland, which was also distributed as Girl Lost (the “Film”). Bain wrote, produced, directed, and performed in the Film, which was completed in late 2015 or early 2016. Haid appeared in the Film.
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As noted in the Report, the Office believes that the identification and adoption of standard technical measures (“STMs”) may provide an opportunity to improve the overall functioning of the notice-and-takedown system through relatively small, incremental changes that nonetheless could have a large impact on the ability of all rightsholders to protect their rights online.
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In January 2019, the USPTO held an AI IP policy conference. The conference featured IP specialists from around the world and included panel discussions on patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks, IP enforcement, global perspectives, and the economics of IP protection of AI.
On August 27, 2019, the USPTO issued a request for comments (RFC) on patenting AI inventions. The USPTO received 99 comments from a wide range of stakeholders, including individuals, associations, corporations, and foreign IP offices.
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Videogames
Generally (draft), a videogame contains two major components: the audiovisual material and the computer program that runs the game. If the copyright in the audiovisual material and the computer program are both owned by the same entity, they should be registered together on one application. By contrast, if the copyright in the program and the audiovisual material are owned by different parties, separate applications will be required.
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In 1717, the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, captured a French slave ship in the West Indies and renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge. The vessel became his flagship. Carrying some 40 cannons and 300 men, the Revenge took many prizes as she sailed around the Caribbean and up the North American coast.
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Requirements that pose a relatively minimal burden for large, established OSPs could be crippling for a small startup that lacks access to enterprise-level technology. Larger rightsholders with in-house enforcement teams may have more resources to monitor online infringement than small rightsholders that must face a choice between devoting their time to creative endeavors or to enforcing their rights.
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In August 2013, Ricky Martin and Sony… claimed that they were sponsors” of and advertised the “SuperSong” contest. The contest was a competition; each participant was required to compose a song with lyrics in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. The participants were required to submit their songs in “video format showcasing the performance of the composer” by January 6, 2014.
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