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Hurdles to suing for copyright violations.

By Marks & Katz, LLC

A real tension exists between the First Amendment and the Constitution's protections of intellectual property.  Art. I, § 8 of the Constitution empowers Congress to "promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."  The First Amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech..." In 1992, federal trial Judge Pierre Leval recognized, as follows, the tension between the First Amendment intellectual property protections:  "Even if there was some likelihood of confusion, I would still conclude that New York's cover did not violate Yankee's trademark rights. This is because the First Amendment confers a measure of protection for the unauthorized use of trademarks when that use is a part of the expression of a communicative message...continue to full post

Full post as published by Underdog on March 04, 2010 (boomark / email).