Under thr 1909 copyright law, formalities (concerning notice and registration) were very important. I do not find it surprising then that the Disney’s may have messed up their copyright notice. The law then was that if there existed any ambiguity in the notice, then copyright was void. Of course, when a young law student working [...]
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Singer Jackson Browne is suing US Republican presidential candidate John McCain for using one of his songs without permission. (NY Times) McCain used Browne’s 1977 hit “Running on Empty” in a commercial shown in Ohio. Browne claims that the use of the sone infringes hiis copyright and will make people conclude thaT he endorses McCain. He [...]
Filed under: 2008 Copyright Cases, Copyright, Infringment Cases | 3 Comments »
Online petition: Against the Orphan Works Act of 2008. This bill is no better than the one that I wrote about the Journal of the Copyright Society this Spring. It even includes a registration database requirement, which is an anathema to the stated purpose of the copyright clause of the Constitution. If you have time, [...]
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The Central District of California granted summary judgment in UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Troy Augusto, No. CV 07-03106. (SJO), regarding the legality of reselling promo CDs. Mr. Augusto acquired promo CDs and resold them on eBay, which Universal alleged infringed their copyright due to the following language placed on the CDs: This CD is the [...]
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I haven’t gone through both new versions of the Orphan Works bills (House, Senate). However, this month the Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA published my article detailing problems with all previous versions of orphan works legislation. Here is a PDF of the article, Darrin Keith Henning, Copyright’s Deus Ex Machina: Economic Fostering [...]
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110th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2913 To provide a limitation on judicial remedies in copyright infringement cases involving orphan works. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES April 24, 2008 Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. HATCH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
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Six months ago, the last version of an Orphan Works bill died in Congressional committee. Now, a new Orphan Works bill has surfaced in two different versions, one in the House and one in the Senate. Here is the House version: 110th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5889 To provide a limitation on judicial remedies [...]
Filed under: Copyright, Legislation, Orphan Works | 2 Comments »
Rep. Berman: Pro-IP bill will become law in 2008 Rep. Howard Berman, who heads a congressional panel in charge of writing copyright legislation, lashed out at Internet pirates this week and defended his effort to add stiffer anticopying penalties to federal law. Berman, a Democrat who represents the congressional district near Hollywood, said at a [...]
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This month, in Marketing Information Masters v. The Trustees of the California State University (full PDF of decision here), the US Dist. Ct. for the S. Dist. of Cal. found the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act to be unconstitutional for removing sovereign immunity for state workers working in their official capacity. The court determined that Congress exceeded [...]
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I have gotten a number of phone calls and emails from students (as well as parents and attorneys of students) at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Suffice it to say that there is another rash of RIAA lawsuits on its way. This time, all I have seen have been on the University of Arkansas network. [...]
Filed under: 2008 Copyright Cases, Arkansas IP Litigation, Copyright, P2P, RIAA | 1 Comment »
IP Law Journal Articles
