Tag Archives: Copyright
Why Mailing Yourself Something Does Not Amount To Incontrovertible Proof of Copyright: A Tale of Copyright Fraud
One of the biggest misconceptions in copyright law is that mailing yourself your own work (e.g., a screenplay or CD of music) will establish a copyright. I was once at a Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts meeting where this issue came up. The crowd was almost ready to mutiny on the lawyer answering questions because [...]
Catcher in the Rye (Alleged) Sequel Temporarily Enjoined From Being Published In The United States
I attended the hearing to show cause today in the J.D. Salinger lawsuit against the unauthorized (alleged) sequel to Catcher in the Rye, “60 Years After.” The judge, Deborah Batts, upheld a preliminary injunction prohibiting sale of the book in the United States.
Why J.D. Salinger May be Justified in Seeking to Stop Publication of Catcher in the Rye Sequel
J.D. Salinger has sued the anonymous author and publisher of a book called 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, which is essentially a sequel to Catcher in the Rye that features a geriatric Holden Caulfield escaping from an old age home and taking a trip to New York.
Mixtape Copyrights: Atlantic Records v BCD Music
BCD Music was sanctioned and forced to pay over a portion of its profits to Atlantic for violating a court order restricting it from using any content licensed or owned by Atlantic. BCD also lost a motion to move the case to a Texas Federal Court from New York. Atlantic Recording Corp v. BCD Music [...]
Posted in Music Also tagged atlantic records, BCD music, hip-hop, injunctions, mixtapes, Music, venue 1 Comment
Terminating John Steinbeck’s Copyright Grants
The Supreme Court just turned down an appeal by John Steinbeck’s heirs to terminate John Steinbeck’s 1938 copyright grant to Viking Press (now held by Penguin).
Events of Interest
(1) The U.S. Slips - European law firm Taylor Wessing now ranks the United States third in intellectual property protection. The United Kingdom is first, China is last. (thelicensingplate). (2) Copyrighting Your Tie-Dye – Apparently, it is not a good idea to try to argue that someone has infringed your tie-dye design if the only [...]
Book Piracy is Increasing
A story in today’s NYT describes what has been inevitable for some time: the proliferation of digital book piracy. It seems that it won’t be long before I will be the equivalent of a vinyl record enthusiast, castigating people I meet who refuse to recognize the physical book’s inherent advantages over digital copies. In the [...]
French Government Agency Established to Fight Copyright Infringement Infringes Artist’s Copyright