Author Archives: mwillee

There is a question, irrespective of copyright, of how much ownership any creator has over characters once they’ve introduced them into the world. Fan fiction is a very real thing, and the demands of corporate interests necessitate licensing and spin-offs and any number of gambits that turn a creative property into a larger commercial enterprise.Continue reading “Netflix Facing Lawsuit Over Sherlock Holmes Portrayal”

Verisimilitude in video games is a relatively new issue, and as seen in the case brought by Lebron James’ tattoo artist against NBA2K, it brings with it a host of new issues about depiction and representations in the medium. Trademark or copyright aren’t much of a concern in 8- or 16-bit formats, but design andContinue reading “Call of Duty Wins Case Over Trademark Use on First Amendment Grounds”

Intellectual property as a concept — the notion that ideas can be protected by their creators for the purpose of exclusive profit — is one that is central to the construction of capitalism as we know it both here in the United States and throughout much of the world. Businesses exist on the idea thatContinue reading “Will Intellectual Property Destroy The Planet?”

The pandemic has forced nearly every business that relies upon having multiple people in a single location to rethink their models in a way that would allow them to continue operating with as little contact between people as possible. But what if your business is premised upon thousands of people gathering together in one locationContinue reading “UFC Trademarks UFSEA, With An Assist From John Oliver”

In a world that is globally connected, one thing that can remain regional and provincial is restaurants, or, given the conglomerated nature of everything today, restaurant chains. Each region of the country has its own chains that denizens swear by, and in moving west in early-2014, I became privy to In-N-Out Burger, which has noContinue reading “In-N-Out Presses Trademark Case in Australia, Without Actual Restaurants”

The tension that once existed between the rights of the average content creator online and those of copyright holders no longer exists, because the battle has long since been decided in favor of rightsholders. As long documented in this space, the rules and regulations governing YouTube and Facebook and other content repositories lean decidedly towardsContinue reading “Twitch To Delete Clips Automatically Over Copyright Claims”

We all remember movie theaters, yes? Building with large, dark rooms where we gathered to watch films together, back when such groupings weren’t inadvisable? At the point where theaters were a going concern, superhero movies were the dominant storytelling form of the decade, and that success begat more and more franchises, folding in secondary andContinue reading “Marvel Faces Trademark Fight Over WandaVision Series”

When reality becomes stranger than fiction, one would think that scripted television would tend to suffer. Reading about the creation of the Space Force certainly felt like living inside fiction when the news broke a couple years ago, and so when the announcement of a TV show of the same name came later, it wasContinue reading “Netflix’s Space Force is Winning The Trademark Race”

The crisis caused by the coronavirus has given rise to a wave of goodwill gestures form companies looking to help people throughout tough times. Whether it’s out of genuine communal spirit or a desire for good will, brands have made an effort to both donate money and make available products for free in order toContinue reading “Internet Archive Facing Copyright Lawsuit Over Unauthorized Lending”

Change can seem fitful, if not absent entirely, particularly in light of recent events, but it’s still doing its work in society — not always quickly, and often not in the areas in which it’s most needed, but things do change. Take cannabis: once the scourge of parents and authority figures everywhere, it’s now notContinue reading “The Cannabis Industry Is Moving Into Patents”