Are famous artists more prone to copy (or, more generously interpreted, borrow) from other artists, or are they simply more likely to be either caught out or targeted by other musicians or rightsholders for these perceived indiscretions? If we believe that they’re not any different from other artists, save for being more talented and/or luckierContinue reading “Taylor Swift Loses Bid to Dismiss “Shake It Off” Copyright Case”
Author Archives: mwillee
Cloudflare Wins Summary Judgment in Copyright Case
As has been noted before, it’s particularly hard for rightsholders to nail down exactly who to blame for copyright violations on the internet. There’s the obvious answer — the people who are actually committing the infringement — but they can be hard to actually track down and are typically just one of thousands doing similarly bad things, so stopping them doesn’t do much to solve the problem on a larger scale. And so many of those rightsholders go after those who serve as middlemen and women for the legion of copyright infringers, be they platforms or internet service providers or any other service that has some incidental role in the act, even without direct knowledge.
Evel Knievel’s Estate Loses Trademark Suit Against Disney
If you’re a company as large as Disney, with as much ownership over wide swaths of TV and cinema and other media as they now possess, you’re going to have some fairly frequent IP run-ins. The most recent case making news was the lawsuit brought against the estates of comic creators seeking to prevent them from cancelingContinue reading “Evel Knievel’s Estate Loses Trademark Suit Against Disney”
Some Business Patent Advice
Obtaining patents for your business can be an exciting process in protecting your intellectual property, but making money off of it in the immediate term is not typically achievable without undergoing a few particular business maneuvers, many of which tend to be loaded with risk. Regardless, that tends to be the nature of making moneyContinue reading “Some Business Patent Advice”
Four Startup Must-Haves That Relate to IP
Saying the word “startup” conjures up images of Silicon Valley smarty-pants rocking flip-flops and essentially living at their desks, working their tails off to IPO or drum up rounds of funding. While this picture I’ve painted might be the reality for some, in truth, startups are any new business, determinedly trying to get off theContinue reading “Four Startup Must-Haves That Relate to IP”
Meet Char, Our Copy Czar
Char sent me an email one day with some incredible website links to share on social media with a follow up statement: “Now that I’ve done some solid IP Internet fodder researching, I thought I’d take a crack at a blog post…” And that was that. No questions asked, she just wrote a blog postContinue reading “Meet Char, Our Copy Czar”
3 Common Copyright Mistakes Creatives & Freelancers Make
This is a guest blog by Kunvay blogger Christine Varad, an attorney and artist who helps educate creatives, freelancers and their clients navigate copyright and intellectual property. She has a long standing interest in intellectual property law and promoting the rights and interests of writers and visual and performing artists.
Trademarks and Fair Use: What Can Your Business Use Without Being Sued for Infringement?
The last thing you want to do is ever infringe on trademarks that may apply to intellectual property you found in your business. Sometimes when a business buys another business, prior IP might be discovered later that’s stored away in a vault. What happens if your business decides to create something slightly similar to an item alreadyContinue reading “Trademarks and Fair Use: What Can Your Business Use Without Being Sued for Infringement?”
Female Entrepreneur Pornography (FEP)
Not what you think. As a female entrepreneur leading a company of thirteen just about equally divided between men and women, I merely pointing out what really gets the women Trakers excited.
Michael’s Patent Process…Pending
During my junior year in college, I had a genius idea. One of a kind, novel, and most importantly, patentable! Even if I didn’t know exactly what a patent was…I knew this idea needed a patent. Being a broke Arizona State University student at the time, hiring an IP attorney was out of the question.Continue reading “Michael’s Patent Process…Pending”