Current Trends in Copyright, Trademark & Entertainment Law: Intellectual Property Law

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Current Trends in Copyright, Trademark & Entertainment Law

Legal and business commentary on intellecutal property and the entertainment industry.

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Last Entry: May 21, 2009 at 17:03:33

Copyright Office ECO Not Speeding Up Process

Posted on May 21, 2009
by Tamera H. Bennett Posted May 21, 2009 And I thought it was just me 1) wondering when my clients’ late 2007 and early 2008 paper filed copyright applications were going to register; 2) struggling to use the new ECO system…. Read More From The Washington Post: The trouble is twofold...

Vassar, Wiseman Overcome Copyright Infringement Suit

Posted on May 05, 2009
by Tamera H. Bennett May 5, 2009 I first blogged here about the 2007 lawsuit for copyright infringement against extremely successful country songwriters Phil Vassar, Craig Wiseman, their individual music publishers and Proctor & Gamble. On April 29, 2009 the judge granted the defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment and dismissed the lawsuit...

Change.gov: Creative Commons Is Not A Copyright

Posted on December 03, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett December 3, 2008 CNET REPORTS: President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has licensed the site Change.gov under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, giving visitors more freedom to use content from the site. Change...

Don?t Believe Everything You Read

Posted on September 24, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett September 24, 2008 Don’t jump off a bridge because your friend does and don’t believe everything you read. I made a post last week entitled “Product Placement In Songs” and linked out to a WIRED Blog article as a reference...

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Product Placement In Songs

Posted on September 19, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett September 19, 2008 Here is an intersting article on the process of soliciting songwriters to include brand names in their songs. Thanks to attorney Catherine Hough for the link.

Jackson Browne Sues John McCain

Posted on August 27, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett August 27, 2008 Browne v. McCain On August 14, 2008 Jackson Browne sued John McCain, the Ohio Republican Party and the Republican National Party for copyright infringement, false association under the Lanham Act, and common law right of publicity infringement for an ad created by the Ohio Republican Party that features Browne’s hit “Running [...

Alabama, Werewolves and ?All Summer Long?

Posted on August 21, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett August 21, 2008 It’s not everyday I get to blog about Kid Rock. So here goes. Have you heard the latest single “All Summer Long?” If so, you may have heard a few other tunes that took you back a few years. The song incorporates heavily the piano and guitar licks [...

Jersey Boys and the Kitchen Sink: The Amended Complaint

Posted on August 15, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett August 15, 2008 Corbello Amended Complaint Thanks to my connection for sending me the amended compliant in Corbello v. DeVito. My original post is here. The amended complaint is good reading, but long. The amended complaint actually names all the members of the Four Seasons as defendants along with the companies involved in [...

SUGARLAND PARTNERSHIP DISPUTE

Posted on August 11, 2008
By Tamera H. Bennett August 11, 2008 Read The Amended Complaint On August 7, 2008, Kristen Hall, founding member of the country music group Sugarland, filed a lawsuit against current band members Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush alleging breach of the partnership agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, and a duty to account for her share of the partnership [...

Thanks William Patry

Posted on August 04, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett August 4, 2008 With disappointment and understanding I announce that William Patry, copyright guru and blogger extraordinaire, has chosen to end his blog. I will miss his great insight and commentary as I was an avid reader for the last 18 months...

Tamera Bennett Quoted on Budweiser Trademark Dispute

Posted on July 30, 2008
Tamera Bennett was tapped in July 2008 by LAW360, an online legal newswire, to voice her opinions regarding the international trademark dispute between Anheuser-Busch and state-owned Czech brewer Budejovicky Budvar NP in light of the pending acquisition of Anheuser-Busch by Belgium beer maker InBev NV...

Paul Simon Sues Clock Maker: Copyright Infringement

Posted on July 30, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett July 30, 2008 According to the Simon v. Rhythm USA, Inc. complaint filed by Simon, Rhythm Watch Company sold 40,000 clocks with the song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” without a license. The complaint also states the cost of such a license had it been requested would have been in excess of $1 [...

One Billion Dollars: The Price of A Name

Posted on July 21, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett posted July 21, 2008 How much is it worth to your brand to spend One Billion Dollars for naming rights on a stadium? I think only you and your CFO can decide. Here is a link to a video by AD AGE that provides a good overview of the stadium side of raising [...

Budweiser v Budweiser in Europe

Posted on July 16, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett July 16, 2008 It has been big news that Anheuser-Busch was bought out by InBev. What many may not realize is that a “Bud” in Czech is not the same as a “Bud” in the US. With InBev’s purchase they also acquired approximately 100 legal disputes, mostly over versions of the Budweiser trademark, [...

?HELLO DOLLY? REVISITED DOLLAR SIGNS

Posted on July 08, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett posted July 8, 2008 I love it when the value of a great song keeps shining through. “Put on Your Sunday Clothes” and “It Only Takes a Moment,” two songs from the 50 year-old HELLO DOLLY musical, are integral musical works in the Pixer film WALL-E...

DEVO: LEAVE YOUR HAT ON

Posted on July 08, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett July 8, 2008 Post-punk pioneers Devo say they are suing McDonald’s in the US over a Happy Meal doll that sports the band’s signature red flower pot hat. The article goes on to say DEVO has a copyright and trademark on the “red flower pot hat...

Stairway to Money: Value of ?Stairway to Heaven?

Posted on June 23, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett Posted June 23, 2008 Take a look at how the value of Stairway to Heaven is determined. $572 million sounds good to me!

Tempest: Record Year For Tornado Chasing

Posted on June 20, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett June 20, 2008 Congratulations to our client Tempest Tours, Inc. and president Martin Lisius for this great write up in the Los Angeles Times on their record year of storm chasing. Want to learn more about storm chasing tours?

Promo CDs Can Be Sold

Posted on June 18, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett June 18 2008 On June 10, a federal district court in Los Angeles denied Universal Music Group’s motion for summary judgment, requesting the court to find the defendant liable for copyright infringement for offering for resale and selling CDs marked as “promo copies not for resale...

iPOD Branding Strategy

Posted on May 14, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett May 14, 2008 Thank you to my paralegal extraordinaire Katherine Stimson for the link to this article. The Wall Street Journal disects Apple Computers brand protection strategy behind the iPOD.

?Imagine? Not Clearing That Song

Posted on April 30, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett April 30, 2008 The documentary Expelled (see my post earlier) released on April 18, 2008 had and still has some legal wrangling regarding content. Four days before the theatrical release, the producers of the film filed a declaratory judgment action in the Northern District of Texas after receiving a demand letter from XVIVO, LLC [...

Call For Papers: Intellectual Property and Indigenous Peoples

Posted on April 28, 2008
By Tamera H. Bennett From Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, my alma mater: My name is Zach Burt and I am currently a second-year student at Texas Wesleyan School of Law. Recently, I was elected to serve as the Symposium Editor of the Texas Wesleyan Law Review for the upcoming academic year of 2008-2009...

Go! Fight! Win!: Who Owns The College Fight Song

Posted on April 03, 2008
by Tamera H. Bennett April 3, 2008 I enjoyed listening to this NPR news story last week regarding colleges, namely Auburn and Alabama, who do not own the copyright to their fight song. It was a great opportunity to explain to my 8 year-old what Mom does for a living when it comes to licensing songs...