On September 17, 2021, the Third Circuit held in Beasley v. Howard that trademark cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) do not have claim preclusive effect against trademark...more
9/29/2021
/ Fraud ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Jurisdiction ,
Lanham Act ,
Music Industry ,
Trademark Cancellation ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks
In a precedential decision, the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) affirmed the refusal to register the trademark GOD BLESS THE USA for home decor items on the ground...more
Nearly 40 years after Led Zeppelin released Stairway to Heaven – viewed by many as one of the greatest rock songs of all time – Led Zeppelin was sued for copyright infringement. The estate of guitarist Randy Wolfe, who...more
In a unanimous (albeit fractured) decision written by Justice Alito, the United States Supreme struck down a provision of the Lanham (Trademark) Act barring registration of “disparaging” trademarks, handing a victory to...more
6/21/2017
/ Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Football ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Music Industry ,
NFL ,
Redskins ,
SCOTUS ,
Team Mascots ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
On December 20, 2016, the New York Court of Appeals (New York’s highest court) issued a landmark state copyright law decision, holding in response to a certified question from the Second Circuit in Flo & Eddie, Inc. v. Sirius...more
1/5/2017
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Internet Streaming ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Public Performance Rights ,
Radio Broadcasting ,
SiriusXM ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
The Copyright Act ,
Unfair Competition
The Supreme Court rejected the effort by the Washington Redskins to skip the 4th Circuit and Join the hearing of the USPTO appeal of the SLANTS case....more
10/5/2016
/ Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Football ,
Free Speech ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
NFL ,
Redskins ,
SCOTUS ,
Sports ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The Supreme Court granted the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s petition for certiorari in In re Tam, 117 USPQ2d 1101 (Fed. Cir. 2016). In that case, the USPTO denied registration of an application to register the...more
10/3/2016
/ Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Football ,
Free Speech ,
Lanham Act ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Redskins ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
As we have previously blogged, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) rejected proposed modifications to the existing Broadcast Music, Inc. (“BMI”) and American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (“ASCAP”) consent...more
On August 4, 2016, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) rejected changes to the 1941 consent decrees with ASCAP and BMI. These decrees have been in place since 1941, when the DOJ settled antitrust claims with ASCAP and BMI...more
8/10/2016
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
ASCAP ,
BMI ,
Consent Decrees ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Media ,
Music Industry ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Pandora ,
Popular ,
Public Performance Rights ,
Sherman Act ,
Spotify
In Urbont v. Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 15-1778, the Second Circuit recently revived claims against Sony and Ghostface Killah, holding that although third parties may raise a work for hire defense, here there were factual...more
8/9/2016
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Marvel Comics ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Preemption ,
Sony ,
Summary Judgment ,
The Copyright Act ,
Work-For-Hire
The Second Circuit recently decided Capitol Records, LLC, et al. v. Vimeo, LLC (2d Cir. June 16, 2016) (“Vimeo”), a landmark decision concerning the interpretation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the...more
7/11/2016
/ Capitol Records ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DMCA ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Music Industry ,
Red Flags Rule ,
Safe Harbors ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Takedown Notices ,
The Copyright Act ,
Vimeo ,
Willful Blindness
In a copyright decision that rocks the music industry and splits from the Sixth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit recently held that Madonna’s mega-hit “Vogue” did not violate copyright rights by sampling a 0.23-second horns segment...more
In Baldwin, et al. v. EMI Feist Catalog, Inc., the Second Circuit Court of Appeals was tasked with determining when and how the rights to the song “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (the “Song”) would properly terminate. The...more
On September 15, 2015, the Southern District of California awarded over $500,000 in attorney’s fees to a songwriter who successfully prevailed on his right to terminate grants of copyright under 17 U.S.C. § 203 because...more
n Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. et al, the Ninth Circuit held that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”) requires copyright holders to consider fair use before sending a takedown notice and that the failure to do...more
9/16/2015
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Digital Media ,
DMCA ,
Fair Use ,
Good Faith ,
Interlocutory Appeals ,
Music Industry ,
Online Videos ,
Summary Judgment ,
Takedown Notices ,
The Copyright Act ,
Universal ,
YouTube
On July 31, 2015, the Ninth Circuit reversed the Central District of California’s dismissal of an action brought by the Ray Charles Foundation, seeking, among other things, a judicial determination of the validity and...more
8/17/2015
/ Article III ,
Audio Recording ,
Copyright ,
Irrevocable Trusts ,
Music Industry ,
Royalties ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Standing ,
Termination ,
The Copyright Act ,
Transfer of Interest
Recently, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (the “TTAB”) held that an unsuccessful opposer was precluded from later pursuing a cancellation against the same trademark owner, even though the opposer assumed a different...more
8/12/2015
/ B&B Hardware v Hargis Industries ,
Claim Preclusion ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Downloads ,
Digital Media ,
Music Industry ,
Podcasts ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Act ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Webcasts ,
Webinars ,
Young Lawyers
The Eastern District of Missouri recently dismissed copyright infringement claims against pop-star Katy Perry, rapper Juicy J, and other individuals for lack of personal jurisdiction, in Marcus Gray p/k/a Flame v. Katheryn...more
On May 6, 2015, in Pandora Media, Inc. v. American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, the Second Circuit held that composers and music publishers cannot partially withdraw from the American Society of Composers,...more
5/8/2015
/ ASCAP ,
Consent Decrees ,
EMI Entertainment ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
License Agreements ,
Music Industry ,
Pandora ,
Patent Royalties ,
Popular ,
Royalties ,
Sony ,
Universal
The Northern District of Illinois recently held that the Supreme Court’s decision in Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23 (2003), did not protect a karaoke bar from claims of trademark infringement...more