Apr 29 2013
My friend Robert Krausankas of copyright-trolls.com sent me a link to an article about a new UK Copyright law that could have a devastating impact on photographers’ rights. The new Act(called the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act, which received Royal Assent) states that all “orphaned works” can be used for free by anyone. An orphaned …
Mar 20 2013
In a stunning blow to large publishers, the United States Supreme Court overturned two lower courts in determining that the copyright law did not prevent a Thai student-entrepreneur named Supap Kirtsaeng from buying cheaper, legally-obtained versions of various textbooks in Thailand, bringing them to the US, and then re-selling them to his fellow students here …
Mar 11 2013
In this morning’s NY Law Journal, I read an interesting case out of Suffolk County NY involving a piano. It seems that the plaintiffs,Paul and Karen Palmieri, purchased a rebuilt, refinished Weber 6′ grand piano for $9,000 in 1996 from The Piano Exchange in Glen Cove. The agreement’s terms called for a “rebuilt and refurnished-matching …
Feb 21 2013
Life is indeed good for the Jacobs brothers who started the Boston MA based apparel company “Life is Good.” Not only did they turn their T-Shirt company into a $100 Million a year business, but this past December, the Tenth Circuit, a federal appeals court, dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against the company over …
Feb 01 2013
Electronic Arts’ recent lawsuit against Zynga, the social media gaming company, should come with a warning label – “Rated R for Risky – Winning this lawsuit could hurt your very own business practices.” EA accuses Zynga of copying major elements from its popular “The Sims” game for Zynga’s online virtual reality game called “The Ville.” …