Cox Rocked but DMCA Safe Harbors Remain Unshaken
All We Really Learned Is that Even Big Corporations Don’t Always Run Things by Counsel. We have learned quite a lot about the contours of the DMCA safe harbors over the last few years, thanks to record labels swinging for the fences, Viacom and Google’s tenacity in...
Copyright and Music Explainer: Why Spotify Isn't Really the Poster Child for Everything That's Wrong with the Music Business
Maybe Spotify Isn’t Cannibalizing Music Sales, But Artists Still Aren’t Getting Paid1Although Aaron | Sanders is based in Nashville, we don’t really represent songwriters or artists. There are lots of “music” and “entertainment” lawyers to handle that work....
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What a week it's been
by | Oct 16, 2015
Yoga poses are not copyrightable. Monkeys can maybe have copyright, if people who really care about them can take the case to court. We've got a termination decision from the Second Circuit, and oh, yeah, the Google Books project is fair use. TGIF! Bikram Choudhury,...
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Lenz, the DMCA and Dancing Babies: Don’t Go Crazy, OK?
by | Sep 23, 2015
tl;dr Summary The DMCA’s procedure for taking down allegedly infringing material is (ahem) nearly universally disliked. Rights holders can’t figure out why it’s so hard to take infringing material down, and consumers and service providers can’t figure out why it’s so...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Pacific_Reporter-45885_400x250.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />The Silly Dispute Between Georgia and Public.Resource.Org: Are Statutory Annotations Even Copyrightable?
by | Aug 13, 2015
I Fought (for) the Law; Who Wins? When I started law school, I had only the vaguest idea of what lawyers did. I figured it had something to do with arguing in front of juries and judges, writing legal briefs and contracts. That’s what I expected to learn in law...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Screen-Shot-2015-07-08-at-4.56.00-PM-266681_400x250.png 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />If the Award Goes to the Movie’s Producer Should the Copyright Go as Well?
by | Jul 8, 2015
As Between the Director and the Producers, Who Owns a Movie’s Copyright? When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out the award for Best Picture, the award goes to the movie’s producers. The director, the actors, the cinematographers, make-up...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/From_Confusion_Hill_4737095969-680x1024-213373_400x250.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />NAACP and WD-40: A Primer on When We Need, and Don't Need, Fair Use in Trademark Cases
by | Jun 30, 2015
Fair Use Has a Weird Relationship with Trademark By now you know that fair use is a squishy, fact-intensive, unpredictable but absolutely necessary feature of copyright law. But at least fair use’s role in copyright law is well understood. It’s just hard to apply....
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dreamstime_m_32712331-683x1024-173456_400x250.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />Your Company Needs a Data Breach Policy
by | Jun 11, 2015
We’ve known for a long time that websites that collect user information need a privacy policy. We also know that in the U.S. at least, the laws on protecting information that isn’t medical records or financial records is pretty, well, non-existent. You can do a lot...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/T07573_10-1024x895-83797_400x250.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />Richard Prince Is a Jerkface, but Don’t Blame Instagram
by | Jun 5, 2015
If You Call it Art, Is it Automatically Fair Use? By now you've probably heard that Richard Prince is a jerkface. Or that he is a trolling genius. I am not here to dispute either of those things. They are not mutually exclusive, for one thing. To the contrary, I’m...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dreamstimefree_75289-300x199.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />DMCA Explainer: Why Chilling Effects Can Display Takedown Notices Complete with Pirate URLs
by | May 21, 2015
Wherein we Also Discuss Whether Hyperlinks Can Be Infringing Ellen Seidler, an independent filmmaker with one movie under her belt, wonders why her attempt to get Chilling Effects, the aggregator of DMCA takedown notices, to take down her own earlier DMCA takedown...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/800px-Concesionario_de_Mercedes-Benz_Múnich_Alemania_2013-03-30_DD_27-101132_400x250.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />Implied License Saves the Day (But it Doesn’t Always)
by | Apr 22, 2015
Implied Licenses Are a Last Resort In the day-to-day counseling about copyright matters, this is perhaps the most common fact pattern, and it’s surprisingly sticky. Company X has hired creative firm Y to create something for it. “It” could be almost anything: computer...
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https://www.ricksanderslaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Threes_Company_full_cast_1977-141239_400x250.jpg 480w " sizes="(max-width:479px) 479px, 100vw " width="400" height="250" />Are You a Phony if You Parody "Three's Company"?
by | Apr 9, 2015
Holden Caulfield Watches a 70's Sitcom. Hilarity Doesn't Ensue. If television shows are as influential as most people assume they are, I’m amazed that I wound up a productive member of society[ref]Insert your dumb lawyer joke here, I guess.. My parents let me...
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Although Aaron | Sanders is based in Nashville, we don’t really represent songwriters or artists. There are lots of “music” and “entertainment” lawyers to handle that work....
read more
What a week it's beenYoga poses are not copyrightable. Monkeys can maybe have copyright, if people who really care about them can take the case to court. We've got a termination decision from the Second Circuit, and oh, yeah, the Google Books project is fair use. TGIF! Bikram Choudhury,... Lenz, the DMCA and Dancing Babies: Don’t Go Crazy, OK?tl;dr Summary The DMCA’s procedure for taking down allegedly infringing material is (ahem) nearly universally disliked. Rights holders can’t figure out why it’s so hard to take infringing material down, and consumers and service providers can’t figure out why it’s so... The Silly Dispute Between Georgia and Public.Resource.Org: Are Statutory Annotations Even Copyrightable?I Fought (for) the Law; Who Wins? When I started law school, I had only the vaguest idea of what lawyers did. I figured it had something to do with arguing in front of juries and judges, writing legal briefs and contracts. That’s what I expected to learn in law... If the Award Goes to the Movie’s Producer Should the Copyright Go as Well?As Between the Director and the Producers, Who Owns a Movie’s Copyright? When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hands out the award for Best Picture, the award goes to the movie’s producers. The director, the actors, the cinematographers, make-up... NAACP and WD-40: A Primer on When We Need, and Don't Need, Fair Use in Trademark CasesFair Use Has a Weird Relationship with Trademark By now you know that fair use is a squishy, fact-intensive, unpredictable but absolutely necessary feature of copyright law. But at least fair use’s role in copyright law is well understood. It’s just hard to apply.... Your Company Needs a Data Breach PolicyWe’ve known for a long time that websites that collect user information need a privacy policy. We also know that in the U.S. at least, the laws on protecting information that isn’t medical records or financial records is pretty, well, non-existent. You can do a lot... Richard Prince Is a Jerkface, but Don’t Blame InstagramIf You Call it Art, Is it Automatically Fair Use? By now you've probably heard that Richard Prince is a jerkface. Or that he is a trolling genius. I am not here to dispute either of those things. They are not mutually exclusive, for one thing. To the contrary, I’m... DMCA Explainer: Why Chilling Effects Can Display Takedown Notices Complete with Pirate URLsWherein we Also Discuss Whether Hyperlinks Can Be Infringing Ellen Seidler, an independent filmmaker with one movie under her belt, wonders why her attempt to get Chilling Effects, the aggregator of DMCA takedown notices, to take down her own earlier DMCA takedown... Implied License Saves the Day (But it Doesn’t Always)Implied Licenses Are a Last Resort In the day-to-day counseling about copyright matters, this is perhaps the most common fact pattern, and it’s surprisingly sticky. Company X has hired creative firm Y to create something for it. “It” could be almost anything: computer... Are You a Phony if You Parody "Three's Company"?Holden Caulfield Watches a 70's Sitcom. Hilarity Doesn't Ensue. If television shows are as influential as most people assume they are, I’m amazed that I wound up a productive member of society[ref]Insert your dumb lawyer joke here, I guess. |
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