Love 'em or hate 'em, hashtags are here to stay. The pound sign has become an ever-present feature of social media and has begun to creep into brand identities. Hashtags are also creeping into the Trademark Office as requests for trademark registration. A quick search...
In a strong opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the Google Books project enjoys fair use protection of it work under the Copyright Action Sec. 107. You can read the opinion here (pdf). The Court's opinion, drafted by Judge Pierre...
The past couple of weeks in the music business have been abuzz with significant rulings related to music copyrights. "Happy Birthday" Copyrights Invalid Last week, a federal judge in Los Angeles declared all the copyrights on "Happy Birthday" are invalid. The lengthy court opinion can be found...
Last time, I talked about the basics of the work for hire doctrine. For creative professionals, freelancers, and businesses providing creative services, understanding the boundaries of Work for Hire is critical so as not to throw away important rights or claim rights that don't exist....
Working with creative professionals provides deep satisfaction for me. However, some creative professionals have a difficult time with what their rights are to the work they perform on behalf of clients. I have seen some professionals who simply give their rights away without considering the...
Last week I attended the American Bar Association Spring Intellectual Property Meeting in Rockville, MD. There was only one session, which shall not be named, that didn't get me jazzed about intellectual property work. Needless to say, I had a great time and I learned...
This is the fifth, and final, post in a five part series on Essential Contract Terms for Consultants, Independent Contractors, and Freelancers. This post will focus on protecting your intellectual property. A contract is not only an agreement regarding the exchange of goods or services for...
Talk to any marketing professional and they will tell you that your business needs a website (advice that I concur with). But what is the primary risk of a website? False advertising? Nope. Misspellings and other typos? Unfortunate, but not a major risk. Poor domain name selection? Not even...