The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a lower court opinion today in the case of Cariou v. Prince and handed another victory to the perhaps surprisingly robust world of contemporary collage artistry and appropriation art generally. The story of the case is relatively straight forward. In 2000, Patrick Cariou published (...) [Read More]
You Bought It, Now Dispose Of It How You Please
April 12, 2013
The Supreme Court recently ruled in the case of Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Docket No. 11-697) that the copyright “first-sale” doctrine trumps a copyright holder’s right to control distribution of products embodying copyright protected material. The decision has received a fair amount of attention in the legal sphere but less so in (...) [Read More]
Performance Artist FORCE Launches Spoof with Long Legs
December 18, 2012
A group of performance artists from Baltimore known as “FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture” took advantage of a much anticipated media event to bring attention to the importance of consensual sex. The VS All Access Victoria’s Secret fashion show is an such an event, gluing billions of eyeballs to its prime time telecast. For FORCE, the (...) [Read More]
Turning Lemons into Lemonade: How one Trademark Owner Protected its IP and Avoided being Branded a Troll
July 31, 2012
That old saying seldom rings more true than it does with the recent cease and desist letter sent out by Jack Daniel’s. It seems that Patrick Wensink, an author, used a cover for his book that was quite similar to the trademarked label of Jack Daniel’s. Rather than send him a scalding and legalistic attack letter, (...) [Read More]
Eminem And The Temptations Have More Than Just Detroit In Common
April 2, 2012
While digital piracy continues, major record labels seem to have gotten a handle on making money from digital copies of songs from their music catalogs thanks in large part to the legitimacy conferred on digital music sales distribution by Apple’s iTunes store. Now the labels are finding themselves tripped up by long existing contracts with (...) [Read More]
Evil MegaUpload is Down, so too ProtectIP and SOPA?
January 20, 2012
Rupert Murdock’s tweets do not seem to have convinced Google or anyone else in the tech community to support SOPA and/or ProtectIP. Last night however, FBI agents working with New Zealand authorities claim to have “shutdown” Megaupload.com. Despite cyberattacks by Anonymous that briefly took down the DOJ, MPAA, RIAA and Universal Music Group websites last (...) [Read More]
Mattel scores minor win in Bratz® dolls IP custody battle.
October 24, 2011
A federal district court judge last week threw out a lawsuit brought by Mattel Bratz® rival MGA. The suit accused Mattel of anti-competitive conduct since August of 2010. Judge David O. Carter tossed MGA’s suit because it alleged the same facts underlying MGA’s claims to the Bratz® trademarks in defending an earlier case against Mattel. (...) [Read More]
Maryland Lawyers for the Arts meets with Paraguayan Journalists about IPR at Ober|Kaler
October 13, 2011
What’s IPR you ask? Intellectual property rights. The U.S. Department of State once again asked lawyers from MLA to meet with a delegation of journalists and media lawyers from Paraguay. The Paraguayans are interested in how lawyers in the United States assist artists and record labels in halting piracy and counterfeiting. While the U.S. music (...) [Read More]
