Podcast: The Briefing by the IP Law Blog - The Essential Purpose of the Short Form Copyright Assignment (Archive)
Understanding NFTs and Their Legal Implications
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - How to Preserve Your Intellectual Property Rights with Marking—Part 1: Trademarks and Copyrights
Pepper Hamilton Higher Education "In Brief" Webinar Series: Intellectual Property Basics - What Every Higher Education Administrator Needs To Know
Addressing the intersection of a trust beneficiary’s rights to royalties and an heir’s copyright termination rights under 17 U.S.C. § 203, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order...more
A recent ruling from the United States District Court for the District of Central California in the lawsuit against Miley Cyrus and others for the song “Flowers” highlighted the power that a single copyright co-owner holds in...more
On Sunday, two of the most prestigious categories at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards will confuse millions. To prevent you from being one of them, allow copyright law to explain the difference between Song of the Year and...more
On May 9, 2024, the Supreme Court in Warner Chappell, Music Inc. v. Nealy settled a longstanding circuit split and ruled 6-3 that the Copyright Act entitles a copyright owner to recover damages for any timely claim, no matter...more
Thank you for reading the February 2024 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the advertising rights of luxury resellers and important updates to the Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy...more
On February 21, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. et al. v. Nealy et al. The case involves whether plaintiff music producer Sherman Nealy may recover damages for...more
On September 29, 2023, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, a case that should resolve a split among the U.S. Courts of Appeal relating to the scope of damages available to copyright...more
Top artists have been making headlines for striking music rights deals with deep-pocketed investors who acquire their music publishing and recording rights. Within the last two years, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Nicks, Bob...more
Calling it a “ball of confusion,” the Ninth Circuit recently considered a case involving the music of the Turtles, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, and whether royalties are owed under California copyright law for music dating prior...more
On September 16, 2020, California federal judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that Nicki Minaj’s use of Tracy Chapman’s copyrighted work in the creation of Minaj’s song “Sorry” was fair use. “Sorry” interpolated Chapman’s...more
Affirming a summary judgment in favor of defendant, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit determined that a copyright infringement lawsuit pertaining to the graphic design on a guitar made famous by a late heavy...more
We recently wrote about Led Zeppelin’s victory at the Ninth Circuit in the dispute over “Stairway to Heaven.” Although just a few weeks old, the decision has already been applied in a music case to find non-infringement,...more
Drake prevails again – this time at the Second Circuit. On February 3, 2020, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Drake, finding that his use of a...more
The widow of the late Soundgarden frontman, Chris Cornell, has sued the band, its members, and business managers for copyright ownership of unreleased sound recordings and withholding royalties. ...more
This is what it sounds like, when sanctions are granted. In March 2019, a federal judge in Minnesota sanctioned Defendants for their failure to preserve text messages in a copyright infringement suit brought in part by the...more
Sometimes the truth hurts – but what is the truth here? On October 23, Melissa Jefferson, professionally known as Lizzo, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court in Los Angeles seeking a declaratory judgment...more
“I feel glorious, glorious,” Macklemore is saying. On Tuesday, April 23, a Louisiana federal judge in the Fifth Circuit dismissed a 2017 lawsuit claiming that Macklemore and Ryan Lewis unlawfully sampled Paul Batiste’s sound...more
It has been an interesting several weeks in the trademark world that have transported me back to my halcyon days of high school metal and college grunge (but mostly I was a new wave guy). The years-long litigation going...more
As we have previously discussed, the owner of the copyright in a work has certain exclusive rights in that work. Anyone who violates the exclusive rights of the copyright owner is an infringer of that copyright. To...more
As we have previously discussed, a copyright is first owned by its author (whether individually or on a “work made for hire” basis). Like with any other property, the author can transfer ownership of a copyright (in whole or...more
Addressing the proper procedure for electing statutory damages under the Copyright Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court, agreeing that the plaintiff had properly informed the court of...more
Holding that reproduction of a digital file for purposes of resale does not fall under the “first sale” doctrine of the Copyright Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of...more
You may think the phrase “million-dollar smile” is just a metaphor, but a smile could cost you millions of dollars in litigation damages if you aren’t careful, at least according to Nirvana LLC, the legal entity that owns the...more
Taylor Swift just signed a new record deal that will likely influence the ways in which other artists negotiate with labels....more
After a six year legal battle, superstar rapper Shawn Carter (“Jay-Z”) and his former partners Damon “Dame” Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke successfully defended their use of Roc-A-Fella Records’ iconic logo. Walker v. Carter,...more