Monthly Archives: January 2014

We previously reported on Robin Antonick’s copyright claim against Electronic Arts, Inc. (“EA”) over the software for the Apple II John Madden Football game. Antonick didn’t have a copy of his original source code at the time of trial, so instead he had an expert take whatever binary code had survived and use that data to create a visual presentation of the kind of football play formations the original source code would create.… More

On January 21, 2014, oral arguments were held in the Supreme Court case of Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., which concerned the copyright to the story underlying the film Raging Bull.  We previously discussed this case at some length, but to make a long story short: There is a three-year statute of limitations for copyright infringement.… More

Last year marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech, delivered during the March on Washington on August 28, 1963.  It also marked the 50th anniversary of the first of many copyright lawsuits over that speech.

King v. Mister Maestro, Inc.

Just after the speech was delivered,… More

There are few things more terrifying to a doctor, lawyer or other professional than a bad online review.  Online reviews are frequently uncivil, often indelible and in some cases outright false. Meanwhile, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act often provides immunity from defamation suits to internet companies who host this content, thus providing little incentive to guard against publishing false reviews.

So how do professionals protect themselves from false reviews? … More

The Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision upholding the lower court’s finding at summary judgment that a U.S. importer of branded, gray market mushrooms infringed upon the rights of the U.S. trademark owner.  Gray-market goods, also known as parallel imports, are branded goods legitimately produced and sold abroad that are imported into the United States without the consent of the U.S. brand owner. … More