Orphan Works Report Released
By Eric Goldman The Copyright Office released its report on orphan works. It concludes: “* The orphan works problem is real. * The orphan works problem is elusive to quantify and describe comprehensively. * Some orphan works situations may be…
Allegedly Wrong VeRO Notice of Claimed Infringement Not Actionable–Dudnikov v. MGA Entertainment
By Eric Goldman Dudnikov v. MGA Entertainment, 2005 WL 3693829 (D. Colo. Aug. 17, 2005) [see the earlier Magistrate report] This one just showed up on my radar screen–not sure why it took so long to appear on Westlaw. However,…
Copyrighting Sports Celebration Moves
By Eric Goldman Hank Abromson is a former student/research assistant of mine and an all-around mensch. He recently started a website called “AbromsonOnSportsLaw.com” where he is posting content on various sports law issues. Of particular interest is his belief that…
Web Term Paper Lawsuit Settles
By Eric Goldman In September, I blogged about Macellari v. Carroll. In that case, a student sued a website that allegedly offered her term paper for sale. The case has settled under a confidentiality cloak (registration required). However, a defendant…
Keep on Suin’–Crumb v. Amazon
By Eric Goldman Crumb v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. CV5-2113 (W.D. Wash. complaint filed Dec. 21, 2005). LA Times story on the case. Crumb created the groovy and famous Keep on Truckin’ cartoon in the late 1960s. I’m not going to…
Man Bites Dog–Music Publisher Apologizes for Overreaching C&D
By Mark Schultz In a truly newsworthy item, Billboard reports that music publisher Warner/Chappell “privately and publicly” apologized to Walter Ritter. Ritter is the creator of PearLyrics, an software app for iPod users that downloads song lyrics from lyrics sites…
City of Heroes Lawsuits Settled
By Eric Goldman A complex but interesting legal fight between Marvel and NCSoft, about City of Heroes players generating characters that look like Marvel-owned characters, has come to an end. The press release announcing the settlement. Settlement terms were not…
We Hate You, Buy Our Stuff
By Mark Schultz Treating your customers well is always a good idea. Treating your customers well is a very good idea if they don’t really need your product. Finally, treating them well is absolutely essential if they don’t need your…
Downloading Music Isn’t Fair Use–BMG v. Gonzalez
By Eric Goldman BMG Music v. Gonzalez, No. 05-1314 (7th Cir. Dec. 9, 2005) This case deals with a central topic in P2P file-sharing lawsuits–was the downloading excused by fair use? This issue has come up in oblique ways in…
Keeping C&D Letters Confidential
By Eric Goldman An all-too-familiar story. A famous celebrity takes her clothes off in a private outdoor space (in this case, Jennifer Aniston goes topless in her backyard). The paparazzi captures the event for posterity and profit. Celebrity finds out…