One of the almost-overlooked categories of trademarks is SOUND. Most people don’t realize that a distinctive sound associated with a brand can be trademarked, but like many things “most people” don’t know much about (like particle physics) there is almost always more there than meets the eye. Or the ear, in this case. To date, only [...]
Entries Tagged as 'music'
You Can’t Sing That on TV!
June 16th, 2010 · Comments Off · Copyright, Popular
We all unthinkingly listen to music when we turn on the television. Whether we watch MTV, are addicted to American Idol, sit through the opening soundtrack of any hit series, or just channel surf, we are inundated with lyrics and songs — so much so that we take the presence of music on TV for [...]
The RIAA Will Sue Your Grandma
May 28th, 2010 · Comments Off · Copyright, Technology
The RIAA has now sued or threatened to sue more than 28,000 people in the United States, in most cases extracting settlements of several thousand dollars from college students, housewives, and families with precocious preteens who downloaded music from Grokster, Kazaa, LimeWire, or BearShare. In many cases the infractions alleged are minimal (e.g., 5 songs) [...]
Tags:Copyright·infringement·music·RIAA
Pub Owners Raise A Pint
February 14th, 2010 · Comments Off · Copyright
Publicans across the British Isles stand to recover as much as £20 million in their ongoing legal battle over the payment of copyright fees for playing music at their pubs. A High Court ruling yesterday found in the favor of pubs, restaurants, and hotels, and dismissed the appeal by Phonographic Performance Ltd, which had introduced [...]
“Men” Down in Case Down Under
February 4th, 2010 · Comments Off · Copyright
The 80′s Australian pop-rock band Men at Work, whose vegemite-themed hit “Down Under” vaulted them into superstardom — winning them a Grammy for Best New Artist, and earning them a place in rock history as the only Aussie band to have ever concurrently had a No. 1 album and single in the U.S. – has [...]
Baidu Beats Piracy Charges
January 27th, 2010 · Comments Off · Copyright, Popular
A Chinese court found no wrongdoing by Baidu in a copyright infringement case launched against the largest search engine in China some two years ago by Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment Hong Kong and Warner Music Hong Kong. The Beijing court ruled that the search engine had not broken the law by linking downloads [...]
I am a commercial litigator and intellectual property lawyer in San Francisco. Although my practice encompasses a wide variety of business disputes, I have a particular fondness for, and am prone to wax philosophical on, the subjects of copyright and trademark infringement in music, literature, art, and film.
