Author Archives: mwillee

Many of the fine American institutions that prop up our society aren’t recognized in any founding documents, and those holding such office given far more regard than we hold for our actual elected officials. Among these exalted figures are the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest winner, the Batman actor of the moment, and of courseContinue reading “Carrie Underwood Facing Copyright Lawsuit for Sunday Night Football Theme”

The peculiar invention of the celebrity has grown to hold a strange and uncomfortable place in our culture for both subject and audience alike. Much like the animals at the zoos we pack to see, we are both intrigued and horrified at the sight, aware of how unnatural the arrangement is and guilty at ourContinue reading “Gigi Hadid Challenges Paparazzi Photo Ownership, and Copyright Law As Well”

The question of copyright in cases of addition and transformation of one artist’s work on the part another is a perpetually challenging question. Art, as we are frequently told, is subjective, and the extent to which changes must be made to an original work for it to be deemed an entirely new thing is againContinue reading “Andy Warhol Estate Wins Copyright Case”

We have previously celebrated the new-ish advent of personal branding as it relates to celebrities big and small. Who are any of us to judge those who want to create a bigger identity for themselves, complete with signifiers? After all, celebrities are businesses unto themselves, and every business needs their own branding if they hopeContinue reading “Cardi B Loses Bid to Trademark Catchphrase”

In watching LeBron James display his generational talents on a basketball court (last season notwithstanding), I occasionally give thought to a few passing similarities between us. In many (zero) ways, we could be mirrors of one another: both from Ohio (that much is at least accurate), somewhat close in age (sadly, I’m a year closerContinue reading “LeBron James Files Taco Tuesday Trademark”

New technologies, and the subsequent advances in those new technologies, present new problems, particularly for laws drawn up and passed years, if not decades ago. In fairness, it’s hard to plan for a future that you can’t predict, and you only have to take a look at the portrayals of the future (now our present)Continue reading “Amazon’s New Audiobook Feature Draws Publishers’ Ire”

In this space I cover a lot of stories pulled straight from the day’s news, often involving multinational corporations and the equivalent level of stars from the entertainment business. All big deals, to be sure, but none could hope to approach the level of status on offer to artists geared to kids. While we asContinue reading ““Baby Shark” Heads to Court (Do do do do do do.)”

There are few things that can make us take leave of our senses more readily than sports, and when combined with parochialism and a provincial mindset, a certain mania is loosed within the minds of otherwise sane people. In fans, it leads to tattoos, to drunken parking lot fistfights with opposing fans, to shelling outContinue reading “Ohio State University Leans Into Reputation, Files for “The” Trademark”

We’ve all spent enough time on the internet to have seen our share of hoaxes over the years. Maybe we’ve fallen prey to one or two, although we’d never admit it in public, and maybe not ever to ourselves. P.T. Barnum’s dictum of ” a sucker born every minute” applies to those other folks sharingContinue reading “A Copyright Hoax Runs Wild”

There are few hings more totemically American, at least in origin, as McDonald’s. The arches. The colors. The menu items. The subsequent guilt and shame that come with each meal. It’s a brand that’s been built over decades, and one that serves as the foundation of what we know as fast food today. What weContinue reading “McDonald’s Trademark Battle in Ireland”