50 Cent’s two-minute cameo in the horror film “Skill House” turned into a full-blown legal battle over credits, contracts, and control. In this episode of The Briefing, Weintraub entertainment and IP attorneys Scott Hervey...more
You came up with a clever brand name in a foreign language—great! But did you know it might be refused by the USPTO? In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley break down what a doctrine is, how...more
Can you use a celebrity’s voice or image in your work? What about AI-generated versions? On this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley explore the right of publicity—how it protects names, likenesses,...more
Can you use a celebrity’s voice or image in your work? What about AI-generated versions? On this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley explore the right of publicity—how it protects names, likenesses,...more
Who owns the rights when you co-create something? It’s not always as simple as you think. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard D. Buckley, Jr. explain copyright ownership in creative collaborations—and...more
8/15/2025
/ Artists ,
Authorship ,
Best Practices ,
Co-Ownership ,
Contract Negotiations ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Ownership ,
License Agreements ,
Ownership of Works ,
Transfer of Rights ,
Work Made For Hire Doctrine
From podcast names to iconic sounds, trademarks shape the entertainment world. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley break down what trademarks are, how to get one, and why creators must protect...more
From movie titles to podcast logos, trademarks are everywhere in the entertainment industry. But how do you get one—and what does it actually protect? Weintraub attorneys Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley talk about the...more
8/6/2025
/ Brand ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Logos ,
Movies ,
Podcasts ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Ownership ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
Creators, beware: just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s fair game. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley break down one of the most misunderstood areas of copyright law—fair use.
In this...more
Creators, beware: just because it’s online doesn’t mean it’s fair game. In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley break down one of the most misunderstood areas of copyright law—fair use.
In this...more
In a major win for Meta, a federal court recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by prominent authors who claimed their books were illegally used to train the company’s Llama models. But the ruling doesn’t give AI companies a...more
7/25/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Authors ,
Authorship ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Machine Learning ,
Social Media ,
The Copyright Act
In a major win for Meta, a federal court recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by prominent authors who claimed their books were illegally used to train the company’s Llama models. But the ruling doesn’t give AI companies a...more
A federal judge has ruled that training Claude AI on copyrighted books—even without a license—was transformative and protected under fair use. But storing millions of pirated books in a permanent internal library? That...more
A federal judge has ruled that training Claude AI on copyrighted books—even without a license—was transformative and protected under fair use. But storing millions of pirated books in a permanent internal library? That...more
7/18/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Books ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Digital Media ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Technology Sector ,
Transformative Use
The Supreme Court sidestepped a major copyright showdown—again. What does it mean when infringement claims surface decades later? In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler break down the latest in the...more
The Supreme Court sidestepped a major copyright showdown—again. What does it mean when infringement claims surface decades later? In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler break down the latest in the...more
Who really owns WallStreetBets? The man who created the subreddit, or the platform that hosted it?
In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler dive into the trademark showdown between Jaime Rogozinski and...more
Who really owns WallStreetBets? The man who created the subreddit, or the platform that hosted it?
In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Tara Sattler dive into the trademark showdown between Jaime Rogozinski and...more
In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley dive into Pepperdine University v. Netflix, a trademark showdown over the use of the name “Waves” in the Netflix series Running Point. After Pepperdine’s...more
In this episode of The Briefing, Scott Hervey and Richard Buckley dive into Pepperdine University v. Netflix, a trademark showdown over the use of the name “Waves” in the Netflix series Running Point. After Pepperdine’s...more
Can a car be a copyrightable character? In Carroll Shelby Licensing v. Halicki, the Ninth Circuit said no — ruling that “Eleanor,” the iconic Mustang from ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ lacks the distinctiveness and consistency...more
6/20/2025
/ Appeals ,
Celebrities ,
Claim Construction ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Fictional Characters ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Movies ,
Popular
Can a car be a copyrightable character? In Carroll Shelby Licensing v. Halicki, the Ninth Circuit said no — ruling that “Eleanor,” the iconic Mustang from ‘Gone in 60 Seconds,’ lacks the distinctiveness and consistency...more
What happens when a business built on a celebrity’s name no longer controls the name itself? In this episode of The Briefing, attorneys Scott Hervey and Jessica Marlow break down the Nicklaus Companies v. GBI decision and...more
What happens when a business built on a celebrity’s name no longer controls the name itself? In this episode of The Briefing, attorneys Scott Hervey and Jessica Marlow break down the Nicklaus Companies v. GBI decision and...more
After nearly 30 years of litigation, a federal court has canceled General Cigar’s U.S. trademarks for COHIBA cigars — all because of a little-known treaty and a Cuban brand once favored by Fidel Castro. What does this mean...more
After nearly 30 years of litigation, a federal court has canceled General Cigar’s U.S. trademarks for COHIBA cigars — all because of a little-known treaty and a Cuban brand once favored by Fidel Castro. What does this mean...more