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Film Industry The Copyright Act

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

When Is a Car a Character? The Ninth Circuit Revisits Copyrightability in Halicki v. Carroll Shelby Licensing

The Copyright Act does not expressly address the protection of individual characters in expressive works, but courts have long recognized that certain characters, particularly those with strong visual or narrative identities,...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

IP Hot Topic: The (Media) Empire Strikes Back

Some of the largest movie studios have entered the fray of GenAI copyright litigation. Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and DreamWorks sued the image-GenAI company Midjourney, Inc. in the...more

Weintraub Tobin

Podcast - The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise

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This week on the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a claim for copyright reversion made by the screenwriter of Friday the 13th, seeking the reversion to the rights in the screenplay to the popular horror...more

Weintraub Tobin

The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise

Weintraub Tobin on

This week on the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a claim for copyright reversion made by the screenwriter of Friday the 13th, seeking the reversion to the rights in the screenplay to the popular horror...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

You Know His Name (Jason). You Know the Story (Friday the 13th). But Do You Know Who Owns Jason? The Second Circuit Does - and the...

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As of today, there have been twelve (yes, twelve!) movies released as part of the Friday the 13th series of horror films, as well as a television series. For those of you who have not seen any of these films, they are not for...more

Littler

Producers of Creative Work Beware

Littler on

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently held that the creator of The Friday the 13th screenplay could terminate his copyright grant to Horror Inc. (the producer of the movie franchise) and reclaim it. ...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Remembering Two Of The Spookiest Halloween Copyright Cases

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With Halloween 2020 having just passed, we thought it was important to remember two of the spookiest of intellectual property cases, in particular, those copyright cases addressing issues with well-known horror movies. ...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Italian Film Composer “Scores” for Authors

The Second Circuit issued a remarkable decision on termination rights under Sections 203 and 304(c) of the Copyright Act that seemingly, whether knowingly or otherwise, limits the Act’s extraterritorial reach. Ennio Morricone...more

Jaburg Wilk

The Ninth Circuit Helps Copyright Owners Battle Widespread Infringement in Glacier Films v. Turchin

Jaburg Wilk on

On July 24, 2018, the Ninth Circuit issued a decision that can be an important tool to help copyright owners enforce their rights. It’s not unusual for copyright owners to believe that it’s just not worth going after some...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Intellectual Property Bulletin - Summer 2018

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In This Issue - US Taxation of IP After Tax Reform - U.S. taxation of intellectual property has become astoundingly more complex after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The new rules are so complex that the IRS and Treasury...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

The Southern District of New York Finds “Work Made For Hire” Under Italian Copyright Law

Musical scores incorporated into films are usually produced with the specific film in mind. In the U.S., we call such works “works made for hire,” meaning that the artist does not retain authorship rights to the music....more

McDermott Will & Schulte

No Fairytale Ending for Unauthorized Movie Streaming

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction against an online video streaming service, finding that the movie studio plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits for violations under the...more

Snell & Wilmer

Ninth Circuit Construes Family Movie Act and Affirms Injunction Against Streaming Service

Snell & Wilmer on

In December 2016, a California federal court issued a preliminary injunction against VidAngel, Inc.’s custom-filtered video streaming service. Thursday, in Hollywood Studios v. VidAngel, Inc., a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed...more

Knobbe Martens

Not Gone with the Wind: IP Rights Despite Public Domain Images

Knobbe Martens on

In 2006, Warner Bros. filed suit against A.V.E.L.A., X One X Productions, and ArtNostalgia.com, Inc. (collectively, “AVELA”) for copyright and trademark infringement under the Copyright Act, the Lanham Act, and state law....more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Copyright in Individual Contributions to a Film - 16 Casa Duse, LLC v. Merkin

McDermott Will & Emery on

Citing the U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit’s recent en banc decision in Garcia v. Google (IP Update, Vol. 18, No. 6), the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling that...more

Gray Reed

Who’s on First? Depends if Fair Use is on Second and Public Domain is on Third

Gray Reed on

Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” brings back memories of my seventh-grade talent show where I performed the routine with Brandon Berry at Atascocita Middle School. I can’t remember if we won second or third place —...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Intellectual Property Bulletin - Winter 2015

Fenwick & West LLP on

Copyrighting Player-Generated Content in Video Games - Last year, consumers spent more than $21 billion on the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association reports that almost 60% of Americans—roughly...more

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