DuetsBlog Collaborations in Creativity & the Law

Category Archives: Copyrights

Subscribe to Copyrights RSS Feed

There’s always money in the banana-based intellectual property rights…

By on Posted in Advertising, Agreements, Branding, Contracts, Copyrights, Famous Marks, Infringement, Law Suits, Loss of Rights, Marketing, Trademarks

In its list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, the Rolling Stone ranked the 1967 album The Velvet Underground & Nico at number 13 – not bad for the band’s very first album.  The album had a simple cover, some would say iconic, cover:   And get this: the banana peel was actually a… Continue Reading

NY ♥ TM

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Copyrights, Dilution, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Idea Protection, Infringement, Marketing, SoapBox, Trademark Bullying, Trademarks

Last week I stopped at a local wine and beer store to pick up a bottle of wine to bring to a friend’s dinner party (but also couldn’t resist purchasing a 4-pack of Surly’s Bitter Brewer. I had never seen it before, but highly recommend it). As I walked back to my car I noticed a pile of… Continue Reading

“Frankenstein” Class Action Suit Against YouTube Dies in Court…For Now

By on Posted in Copyrights, Guest Bloggers, Infringement, Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Social Media, Social Networking, Technology

- Ryan Francis, Law Student, William Mitchell Law School      vs.   Is he alive? Not really, but the Manhattan Second District Court recently referenced the Frankenstein monster in The Football Ass’n Premiere League Ltd. v. YouTube Inc., No. 07 CIV. 3582 LLS, 2013 WL 2096411 (S.D.N.Y. May 15, 2013). In this case, plaintiffs alleged… Continue Reading

Memes Attack

By on Posted in Copyrights

A recent lawsuit combines a number of things that are surely ruining today’s youth: internet memes, the Nintendo DS, and side-scrolling video games (actually, that last one ruined my generation.  Thanks Super Mario Bros., Contra Force, and Ninja Gaiden!)  The game series at issue in the suit, Scribblenauts, allows players to summon some of the most… Continue Reading

Employee Wrongfully Terminated for Refusing to Engage in Criminal Copyright Infringement

By on Posted in Copyrights, Infringement, Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts

Adam Young worked for an architecture firm, Nortex Foundation Designs Inc. in Fort Worth Texas as a drafter. He was hired in 2001 and designed foundation plans based on copyrighted architectural designs that Nortex provided to him. In 2010, Young received a plan being drafted for a homeowner that had a black stamp which stated… Continue Reading

Prince, the DMCA, and Bullying

By on Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, First Amendment, Infringement, Social Media

Minneapolis’ own hometown hero Prince Rogers Nelson, formerly and currently known simply as “Prince,” has been in the news quite often in 2013. It began with his surprise, limited ticket performances in January, which he followed up with a surprise concert to close out the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. Prince has also made legal… Continue Reading

Canine Inspired Copyright Confusion?

By on Posted in Agreements, Contracts, Copyrights, Infringement, Marketing, Social Networking, Trademarks

When we mention confusion on DuetsBlog, we’re typically referring to the well-known likelihood of confusion test of trademark infringement. But today, we’re focused on the apparent confusion many have about the important question of: When copyright protection comes into being. If you ever have wondered whether something is or has been “copyrighted,” this post is for… Continue Reading

No Escape

By on Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, Famous Marks, Infringement

This post is probably a bit dated for the readers that are on the cutting edge of developments in the film industry.  But since that may only be a small subset of our readers, I thought this information was worth sharing. Apparently, a brazen independent film director managed to surreptitiously shoot nearly an entire film on-site… Continue Reading

Antigua and Barbuda: Haven from Minnesota Winters and Copyright Infringement

By on Posted in Copyrights, International

–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney When you’re attempting to seek financial retribution from the United States, you have to get a little creative. And it sounds like Antigua and Barbuda employ some creative people. The Carribean nation, known for its beaches, weather, and gambling,  once thrived on a gambling industry that employed 5 percent of its people. The… Continue Reading

The Louboutin Color Trademark Controversy Continues

By on Posted in Branding, Copyrights, Infringement, Law Suits, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

While watching Lena Dunham stumble in her 6-inch Louboutin red-soled heels during the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards broadcast, our comments revolved around the fact that her dress was so long, she should have worn slippers instead of stilettos.  We believed that Ms. Dunham should have waited to wear the Louboutin shoes until she was wearing… Continue Reading

Batmobile: The Copyright Rises

By on Posted in Copyrights, Infringement, Law Suits, Patents, Product Configurations

Over the weekend, I saw an article in the Hollywood Reporter (which incidentally likes to quote our very own Catlan McCurdy, like here and here) discussing the copyright dispute over the 1966 Batmobile.  Warner Brothers and its subsidiary DC Comics sued the owner of Gotham Garage for trademark and copyright infringement of the Batmobile design. … Continue Reading

THQ Goes Down

By on Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, Infringement

As 2012 winds down and we all recover from what I’m sure was a wonderful Festivus celebration (I know I’m still feeling the effects of a particularly bloody Feats of Strength and an overly ambitious Airing of Grievances directed at me by my family members), it seems time to wrap-up last month’s post about a tattoo artist who sued… Continue Reading

I Didn’t Realize William Faulkner Used To Live Under A Bridge

By on Posted in Copyrights, First Amendment, Law Suits, Mixed Bag of Nuts

Those of us that work in the field of intellectual property law have gotten really familiar with a species known as trolls.   I’m not talking about mythical Norse creatures.  I’m talking about patent trolls, trademark trolls, and copyright trolls.  To the uninitiated, these various species of trolls are essentially people and companies that attempt to… Continue Reading

Whose Tattoo?

By on Posted in Copyrights, Infringement, Mixed Bag of Nuts

As the number of Americans with tattoos increases, it appears that tattoo-related litigation is increasing as well.  Most recently, tattoo artist Chris Escobedo sued video gamemaker THQ because THQ’s game, UFC Undisputed 3, features UFC fighter Carlos Condit, as well as the giant lion that Escobedo tattooed on Condit’s right oblique.  While THQ got the rights to use Condit’s image, Escobedo… Continue Reading

Copyright Protection for Clothing Designs Unlikely to Pass in 2013

By on Posted in Copyrights, SoapBox

–Catlan McCurdy, Attorney Copycat dress from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (left) and Alexander McQueen dress (right) Warner Brothers certainly could have afforded to buy an authentic Alexander McQueen rather than copying. As the year draws to an end and newly elected members of Congress celebrate over mimosas this morning, I thought we’d check… Continue Reading

Intellectual Property and the Next President

By on Posted in Articles, Branding, Copyrights, Idea Protection, International, Marketing, Patents, Trademarks

After months of debates, worn out talking points, and a seemingly endless barrage of ads, election day is finally here!  I’m hoping this post serves as a reminder to get out and vote today. Campaigns these days are not without their intellectual property feats and blunders.  There are the buttons; the slogans – purposeful and… Continue Reading

Will the Fashion Industry Be Given Another Gift?

By on Posted in Copyrights, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Trademarks

The fashion industry has been in the news lately with respect to intellectual property issues.  There was the recent landmark Second Circuit decision reversing the district court’s extreme curtailing of color trademarks in the fashion industry. Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent America Holding, Inc., 11-3303-cv (September 5, 2012).  Specifically, the Second Circuit declined to… Continue Reading

Louboutin & Lessons Learned

By on Posted in Branding, Copyrights, Infringement, Keyword Ads, Law Suits, Marketing, Non-Traditional Trademarks, Search Engines, Sight, Trademarks, USPTO

As promised, here are some further thoughts, lessons learned, and remaining unanswered questions concerning the recent and long-anticipated decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Christian Louboutin S.A. v. Yves Saint Laurent Am. Holding, Inc. Lessons Learned for Marketing Types: Single color trademarks may be owned, registered, and protected when they are distinctive and… Continue Reading

Going Nuts Over the Proper Use of Trademark & Copyright Notice Symbols?

By on Posted in Advertising, Branding, Copyrights, Marketing, Mixed Bag of Nuts, Trademarks

It was too hard for me to avoid snapping this quick photo while grabbing a tasty bag of cheese corn from the “Nuts on Clark” vendor (to better enjoy waiting for a flight out of Chicago’s O’Hare airport recently), and I trust you see what caught my eye (in the lower right corner of their signage). It seems… Continue Reading

Marketing 101: Knowing Your Audience

By on Posted in Advertising, Articles, Copyrights, False Advertising, International, Marketing, Patents, Trademarks

Blake Shelton is a brilliant marketer. Whether or not country music speaks to you, for anyone who attended his concert at the Minnesota State Fair this past weekend, it would be hard to deny the chemistry he perfected with his audience. I’ve never witnessed a better concert from the perspective of the storytelling used to lure and charm the audience, while at the… Continue Reading

Graffiti of Olympic Proportions

By on Posted in Articles, Copyrights

I am a huge fan of Banksy, the faceless graffiti artist from Great Britain with a wry sense of humor and an affinity for social commentary.  Before I was introduced to Banksy and other graffiti artists, “graffiti” was merely unattractive gobbledygook resembling children’s handwriting spray-painted on walls, bridges, stop signs, and train cars.  But Banksy… Continue Reading