copyright – Duane Morris New Media and Entertainment Law

December 15, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

More about the Monkey and the Selfie

The New Media Entertainment blog of August 18, 2014 http://blogs.duanemorris.com/newmedialaw/2014/08/18/are-copyrighted-works-only-by-and-for-humans-the-copyright-planet-of-the-apes-and-robots/ attracted a new blog reader, David Slater. He’s the photographer who had contested Wikimedia’s view that certain images of a monkey weren’t copyrightable because it believes that the monkey authored the images.

Mr. Slater wrote us to assert “…that these images were ALL taken on a tripod with a cable release, with the camera’s settings configured by myself, the tripod positioned such that the angle of lighting lit up the monkey nicely and the background was not distracting.” I appreciate learning Mr. Slater’s point of view.

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August 17, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

Blockbusters, Behemoths, and In-Betweeners – The Changing Entertainment Business

What are the most notable recent changes and trends in the entertainment business? Not all of the changes are due to our friend the Internet, although that is obviously playing a very big part. Many motion picture industry figures have commented that we are headed to a future of still more big budget movies dominating the marketplace at very high movie ticket prices. Are the big boys and girls of show business going to win the lion’s share of revenue in the future?

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May 4, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

The Little Antenna That Could? Aereo in the Supreme Court

The Little Antenna That Went to the Supreme Court

Call it “the little antenna that could.” Remember the classic rabbit ears that topped television sets? Now there is a miniature version that doesn’t look like a rabbit but moves very fast. A new device developed by Aereo, Inc. provides access to live TV online for local channels within a given coverage area. Using an array of tiny dime-sized antennas, the system makes it possible to watch television without a television set. For a rate currently around $8-12 per month, subscribers can view and record live television broadcasts over the Internet through mobile electronic devices. Since its inception in 2010, Aereo’s online television playback system has expanded into 11 major U.S. media markets and garnered the company nearly one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000) in funding. This expansion has also earned the small startup company the enmity of major broadcasters and a date in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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May 2, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

Whose Motion Picture Is It Anyway — Does the Actress Own the Motion Picture?

It was the casting call that would make her name known, but it didn’t bring the kind of fame for which she was hoping. In July 2011, Cindy Lee Garcia landed a minor role in a motion picture that was to be called “Desert Warrior.” She received four pages of the script, performed her role, and was paid $500 for three days of acting. Little did she know, this brief performance would make her the center of an uproar in the Islamic world.

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April 30, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

Do You Own Your Music Playlist?

Is a playlist as protectable and as valuable as a song? When I was on a panel at Harvard Law School a decade ago and first heard the notion that a DJ’s playlist was just as valuable as a song, I couldn’t believe it. I recognized the value in a playlist but still felt that there was something especially creative and valuable in a song in contrast to the act of curating songs of others. Today the DJ electronic dance music culture is strong and growing stronger, making the question of playlist ownership even more relevant. Playlists are valuable but are they protectable under copyright law?

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February 20, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

How Long Should You Wait to Sue for Copyright Infringement?

Suppose that you’ve created something copyrightable. You’ve gone through the process of registration with the Copyright Office and followed the renewal procedures (if they were necessary). You learn that someone is infringing your copyright. You seek the advice of your lawyer, who sends a cease and desist letter to the infringer. How long can you wait before you have to sue? The answer, it turns out, is a complicated one.

The issue is currently under consideration by the Supreme Court. In January, the Court heard oral arguments from parties in the case of Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. A decision is expected by June 2014. Ms. Paula Petrella is the owner of the copyright of a screenplay that served as a basis for the classic Martin Scorsese 1980 film Raging Bull. Ms. Petrella’s father, Frank Petrella, had written the screenplay with his friend, boxer Jake LaMotta (the eponymous Bull). Raging Bull is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, and resulted in an Academy Award for Robert DeNiro for Best Actor.

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February 18, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

All’s Fair in Copying the World’s Books

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to have all the world’s literature scanned and available for search in text online? Well, something along those lines is already here.

Google’s Book Project (or “Google Books”, as it has come to be called) is one of the enterprising tech giant’s ambitious ventures. Google Books itself consists of two smaller components. First, the Partner Program, in which Google hosts books on its website licensed from publishers with whom it has entered into agreements. Second, the Library Project, via which Google hosts scanned books from various libraries and collections without obtaining permission of the respective authors or publishers. Since beginning in 2004, Google has scanned over twenty million books as part of the Library Project. The goal is to make the text fully searchable through Google’s search engine.

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February 14, 2014April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

Sherlock Holmes and the Public Domain

Over his illustrious 125-plus-year career, Sherlock Holmes has captured the public’s imagination by catching thieves, stopping assassins, and breaking up spy rings. His adventures have led to his appearance in many books, motion pictures, video games, and television series, including two of the most popular programs currently airing. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famed detective’s latest case lands him in an Illinois district court. An earlier blog posting on the case is here.

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August 13, 2013April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

Is Copyright Working Well for the Copyright “Middle Class”?

Is copyright a good thing or is copyright just in the way? Ok, I’m a copyright lawyer so you might be able to guess what I’ll say.

Thanks to changing and less-protective copyright laws and the Internet, there is so much more content available than ever. But it’s tough for copyright creators to be in the middle of the economic changes – and to make money.

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July 28, 2013April 13, 2016 by Mark A. Fischer

Good Deeds and Minimal Unauthorized Copying of Copyrighted Works

Literary legend William Faulkner was known for spectacular writing. His sentences were often very long indeed. So, perhaps it’s ironic that a brief Faulkner quotation – a single line — from his work Requiem for a Nun was at the center of a federal copyright lawsuit, namely, “The past is not dead. Actually it’s not even past.”

In Woody Allen’s motion picture, Midnight in Paris, several literary lights of the 1920s appeared as characters including Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Faulkner.

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