An Analysis of Title I and Title III of The Music Modernization Act, Part 2 of 2 (Guest Blog Post)
Guest Blog Post by Tyler Ochoa [This is part 2 of a 2-part series on the Music Modernization Act. Check out part 1 before reading this post.] The Musical Works…
An Analysis of Title I and Title III of The Music Modernization Act, Part 1 of 2 (Guest Blog Post)
Guest Blog Post by Tyler Ochoa On October 11, 2018, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1551, the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, which became Public Law 115-264,…
An Analysis of Title II of Public Law 115-264: The Classics Protection and Access Act (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Tyler Ochoa On October 11, 2018, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1551, the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, which became Public Law 115-364, 132…
Realistic Docudramas Don’t Violate California Publicity Rights–deHavilland v. FX
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Last week, the California Court of Appeal ordered the dismissal of a right of publicity and false-light privacy lawsuit brought by legendary actress Olivia de…
A Seismic Ruling Revisited: No Common-Law Public Performance Rights in Pre-1972 Sound Recordings in New York–Flo & Eddie v. Sirius
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa On December 20, 2016, the New York Court of Appeals (the highest court in the State of New York) held 4-2 (with one judge recused)…
Was Melania Trump’s Plagiarism Also Copyright Infringement? (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa The first night of the Republican National Convention generated quite a bit of controversy, as Melania Trump was accused of plagiarizing a key passage in…
Chain of Title Proves Fatal to “Happy Birthday” Copyright Claim (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa “Happy Birthday” has been described as “The World’s Most Popular Song.” It is sung almost every time that people gather to celebrate a birthday. The…
California’s Resale Royalty Statute Violates the Dormant Commerce Clause—In Part (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Tyler Ochoa On Tuesday, May 5, an eleven-judge en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit held that California’s Resale Royalty Statute, Civil Code § 986, could not…
Manuel Noriega Loses Right of Publicity Suit Against Activision (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Tyler Ochoa What does former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega have in common with former NFL running back Jim Brown and a host of former college athletes? All…
A Seismic Ruling On Pre-1972 Sound Recordings and State Copyright Law–Flo & Eddie v. Sirius XM Radio (Guest Blog Post)
By Tyler Ochoa [Eric’s intro: in Tyler’s cover email to me, he told me the ruling was “huge, as in 1906-San-Francisco-earthquake huge. It literally could result in undoing 75 years…