What if a car thief stood before a judge and said, “Yes, I know I’ve stolen thousands of cars and broke the law, and I’m ready to make some reparations to the owners. But I think you should grant me permission to take all the cars I want in the future so that it wouldn’t… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Joy Newborg
Reaching from the Grave, Should Publicity Rights End Upon Death?
Posted in AdvertisingOver the years, several businesses have tried to gain a competitive edge by associating their products with famous celebrities… but without obtaining licenses. There has been the “Bogart” collection of furniture sold by Ashley Furniture (presumably relying on Humphrey Bogart’s name to sell a common looking line of couches and recliner) and the “B Davis… Continue Reading
Environmental Film Disaster, A Case for First Amendment Rights or Past Regrets?
Posted in First AmendmentAward winning film producer Joseph Berlinger made a documentary entitled Crude, which followed the case brought against Texaco by a group of civilians who allege that the oil exploration and drilling conducted by Texaco, now owned by Chevron, in Ecuador polluted the rain forest and contaminated their drinking water. The film received rave reviews at… Continue Reading
Iron-clad Liability Protection for Idea Submissions?
Posted in Copyrights, Idea Protection, Infringement, TelevisionSeveral bloggers and commentators have been critical of the Travel Channel about its website soliciting people to submit their ideas for what could possibly become a new hit show. As pitching television show ideas has become a complex, involved and costly process, should one really blame them for trying to streamline the process? If people… Continue Reading
Politically Entertaining
Posted in Copyrights, Fair Use, InfringementAs Election Day, November 2nd, is fast approaching, I thought it would be timely to do a piece on politicians and how they periodically run afoul of the copyright laws. Over the past few years, there have been several political candidates accused of using copyrighted material in their campaigns, and “fair use” tends to be… Continue Reading
Life-Line to the Lifeblood
Posted in Agreements, Copyrights, Idea Protection, Law SuitsNew ideas are the lifeblood of Hollywood and television, as executives are scrounging to find the next wildly popular Avatar or "Friends." However, there is a little evil known around the industry as idea theft, where a person believes that their idea has been used but they were not given credit or compensation for their… Continue Reading
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Duets Blog Authors
Steve Baird
Just so you know, I'm all about brands and the law, both professionally and personally. I regularly annoy family and friends in retail stores by focusing on product labels—not to buy the product, but to read the fine print and ask, "Who owns these brands" and "Did they really register those marks?" More...
Dan Kelly
You can call me a “non-traditional” attorney, which is a polite way of saying that I did not attend law school straight out of college. I spent five of my first six years after college as a junior high school teacher. The other year I worked as an engineer for a large corporation. More...
Sharon Armstrong
Voted most likely to become an actress while in pre-school, I don’t think I surprised anyone by becoming a lawyer, the steadiest professional gig open to those with a flair for the dramatic. More...
Brent Lorentz
Although I wish I could say my path to the law was the result of a lifelong dream or calling, it was more the result mere curiosity and an affinity for leather-bound books. More...
Catlan McCurdy
Having long been told by my parents that I could do or be anything I wanted, I chose at the age of 10 to become an attorney, as it was the career that would most likely lead me to my goal of becoming the first woman POTUS.More...
Tiffany Blofield
Although my initial career path was to be one of the Supremes (not the musically talented ones with platform shoes and sequins, but rather, the nine wearing sensible shoes and pressed black robes in DC), I will likely stay in Minnesota as I have never lived anywhere else. More...
Brad Walz
My law career started on the ice…as a defensive hockey player (we’re not talking professionally…and if I were, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into law). More...
Susan Perera
Born into the world with an aptitude for science and an affinity for art I found my career path quickly chosen for me. More...
Derek Allen
In hindsight, writing about creativity and the law may have always been in the cards for me. I began training for a career in litigation at an early age by finding ways to disagree with pretty much anyone about pretty much anything. In my longest-running “case,” I argued with my middle school math teacher, Mrs. Jabs, for the better part of four years over whether, even if I got the right answer, I had to show my work to get full credit. More...
Laura Gutierrez
An attorney I am not. Though told to become one, I don't possess those qualities needed to be an effective one (I lack confrontation skills, and although I can write a great argumentative essay, I can’t argue outside a sheet of paper). More...