It Happens Even to Fancy Companies: Downstream Intellectual Property Liability
Don't Ignore it; Manage it. Let’s say you’re a retailer. You buy stuff from a reputable manufacturer or middleman and turn around the sell it to the general public. You’re pretty safe from most intellectual-property concerns, right? If what you’re selling turns out to...
ALL THE BOOKS! Part 2 – Google Books, HathiTrust and the Blind
Last time, we talked about how the courts in the Google Books and HathiTrust decisions saw public benefit playing into fair use. One of the clear benefits of both projects is expanding access to works to the blind and print-disabled. Both Google Books and the...
ALL THE BOOKS!
Google has been changing the world, in case you hadn’t noticed. One of the ways that Google has done this has been to embark, with the help of many academic institutions and libraries, on a mission to scan ALL THE BOOKS. Google, and the universities and...
Aereo into the Cloud: Further Thoughts About the Aereo Decision
“The Cable Defense,” “The Cloud” and More about Causation and Copyright Last time, I tried to make sense of the Supreme Court’s decision in ABC v. Aereo. But there are a couple of major issues that I wasn’t able to touch on: (1) What’s all this about Aereo now saying...
Small Claims Continued – The Timely House IP Subcommittee Hearing
I was pleasantly surprised at all the attention my last blog garnered. Turns out it wasn't all about my brilliant writing or instant blog fame, but instead it turned out that I had fortuitously written about the idea of a small claims court for copyright infringement...
Aereo to the Sun: Making Sense of the Supreme Court's Decision
Note this post was updated the same day it was posted around 9 p.m. my time to address issues raised in one of the comments. I had reversed the polarity on Teleprompter and forgotten that Cablevision pretermitted (i.e., punted) the performance issue on grounds that...
Great Photos, Little Cash: The Problem of "Small Claims" in Copyright
This will not be the first time I’ve said that “just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it’s free.” Today I’ve got a case to prove it to you. I wish this case didn’t also prove that infringement claims aren’t always worth pursuing, but alas… The case in...
Cancellation – What is It Good For? TTAB Cancels REDSKINS Trademarks.
So the Washington Redskins have had all their trademark registrations taken away. This is because THE WASHINGTON REDSKINS mark is racist and disparaging. And the trademark law does not allow disparaging marks to be registered. Let me say that again. The REDSKINS...
Thriving at Three
The third year of Aaron | Sanders nearly passed without us noticing. Time does go faster the older you get. It's been a year of travel for Tara and big cases for Rick - who do you think got the better end of THAT deal? In the past year, the law...
My Response to Prof. Menell Part 3-Supreme Court Disrepsects Legislative History in Kirtsaeng
Kirtsaeng’s Near-Contempt for 1960’s-Era Legislative Materials This post continues my response to Prof. Menell’s contention that, based on the Supreme Court’s use of 1960’s-era legislative materials to construe the Copyright Act of 1976 (the “1976 Act”), it is...
Federal Circuit Feeds Us Some Humble Pie: Oracle v Google Reversed
Humble Pie Taste Like Sawdust but at Least it's High in Roughage It’s fair to say that I was a little bit invested in the district court opinion in Oracle v. Google. I really thought it was a great opinion, thought it really helped clear the air about the vexed issue...
Bald Attempt to Use Trademark Law to Silence Criticism Is Defeated
It’s Outrage Week! I know this is hard on the heels of my take on an outrageous attempt to leverage a dicey trademark registration into some settlement money, but at least there, you could admire the guy’s chutzpah. What I want to talk about today is willfully...
