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Category: Litigation

The paparazzi images are further from the core of copyright protections than creative or fictional works would be

Rebecca Fay Walsh is a Brooklyn-based professional photographer who licenses her photographs to online and print media for a fee. Townsquare Media is a Delaware-incorporated business that owns and operates an online website called XXL Mag (“XXL”).

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Not every comic book, television, or motion picture character is entitled to copyright protection

Daniels is an expert on children’s emotional intelligence and development. She designed and promoted initiatives that help children cope with strong emotions like loss and trauma. The Moodsters were devised as a commercial application of this work. Daniels hired a team to produce and develop her idea under the umbrella of her new company, The Moodsters Company.

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The more transformative the new work, the less significance of other factors, like commercialism

Tamita Brown, Glen S. Chapman, and Jason T. Chapman (“Plaintiffs”) are musicians who created the song Fish Sticks n’ Tater Tots (the “Song). In 2017, a documentary film titled Burlesque: Heart of the Glitter Tribe (the “Film”) depicts a group of burlesque dancers in Portland, Oregon, one of whom incorporated the Song in a performance.

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Willfulness of infringement as precondition to award

A plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit is not required to show that a defendant willfully infringed the plaintiff’s trademark as a precondition to a profits award

The Lanham Act provision governing remedies for trademark violations, makes a showing of willfulness a precondition to a profits award in a suit under §1125(c) for trademark dilution, but §1125(a) has never required such a showing. Reading words into a statute should be avoided, especially when they are included elsewhere in the very same statute.

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A copyright owner, who permits a licensee to grant sublicenses, cannot bring an infringement suit against a sublicensee

Stephanie Sinclair, a professional photographer, has brought copyright infringement lawsuit against Mashable and its parent company Ziff Davis, alleging infringement of copyright when Mashable posted one of her copyrighted photographs on its website. She maintains publicly- searchable website to showcase her photographs to potential customers and also maintains an account on Instagram. She has posted one of her photograph to her Instagram account viewable by anyone.

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The copyright in tattoo is over when the last becomes the part of likeness?

Solid Oak has brought copyright infringement lawsuit against 2K Games and Take-Two. Take-Two is a major developer, publisher, and marketer of interactive entertainment and video games that develops and publishes products through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, 2K and Rockstar Games. Defendants annually release an updated basketball simulation video game that depicts basketball with realistic renderings of different NBA teams, including lifelike depictions of NBA players and their tattoos.

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Liability for right choice of license

Can the user see the difference between license for personal use and license for public commercial performance? The court in Germany believes yes, the user should know and realize it, because he’s supposed to be professional. The user acquired a license as additional option to internet access and faced lawsuit from right holder for copyright infringement. The user believes he is not guilty. He has a license and he was told that the license he has acquired is enough to show sport events in his restaurant to all guests. The court did not agree.

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Hiring a third party to exercise the licensee’s rights does not convert that third party into an independent licensee

The appeal held that defendant Office Depot, Inc., did not become a licensee of a Creative Commons license, and become bound by its terms, or otherwise infringe Great Minds’ copyright by making copies of Eureka Math materials for a profit on behalf of school and school district licensees.

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Book publishers to block YouTube and Yandex.Video in Russia and little bit more for today

Russian book publishers have not concluded the anti-piracy memorandum with Russian search engine – the so called Russian Google – Yandex. The audio-visual right holders have this memo, book publishers have not received cherished word “agree” from search engine, perhaps therefore they so aggressively defend their rights in online environment and especially make complaints in court towards to Yandex. May be they hint to conclude anti-piracy memo on books?

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First time the Russian court has seized intellectual property

The Russian district court has seized the object of intellectual property almost first time in Russian legal history within the frames of criminal case. The investigators from Russian Federal Security service have filed motion to size property, including software developed by the indicted person. The investigators believe if the seizure of property can be applied in the case, the software is to be also arrested.

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