(Podcast) The Briefing: Sinking the Rogers Test? What Pepperdine’s Lawsuit Could Mean for Hollywood
The Briefing: Sinking the Rogers Test? What Pepperdine’s Lawsuit Could Mean for Hollywood
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
The Briefing: Trademark Smoked: The Fall of General Cigar’s COHIBA Registration
(Podcast) The Briefing: Influencer Fail – ALO Yoga & Influencers Named in $150M Class Action Lawsuit for FTC Violations
(Podcast) The Briefing: Trademark Mayhem – Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Trademark Infringement
The Briefing: Trademark Mayhem – Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Trademark Infringement
The Briefing: Everyone Loves the HBO Series 'White Lotus,' Except Duke University
SCOTUS and federal court rulings on TTAB decisions on granting trademarks and trademark renewals; Netflix settling an anticipated defamation case with a disclaimer and donation
Tag, You’re Sued: Graffiti Artists Sue Over Use of Their Tags
(Podcast) The Briefing: Tag, You’re Sued: Graffiti Artists Sue Over Use of Their Tags
The IP of Everything Podcast - Episode 22 - The IP of Dog Toys
Roundup of 2023 Entertainment Law Cases: Analysis SAG/AFTRA and WGA contracts, No Parody of Iconic Sneaker, AI Copyright Highlights China vs US law; SCOTUS Bad Spaniel and Warhol/Prince.
The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
(Podcast) The Briefing: Once Upon A Time – SCOTUS Rejects Trademark Infringement Claim Against Quentin Tarantino Film
(Podcast) The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional
The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional
The Briefing: The Supreme Court Limits the Reach of The Lanham Act [PODCAST]
The Briefing: The Supreme Court Limits the Reach of The Lanham Act
Jonathan Barnett, once named the “World’s Most Powerful Sports Agent” by Forbes, is accused of forcing an Australian woman to serve as his “sex slave,” while his sports agency within Creative Artists Agency ignored the...more
Defendant Lovo has moved to dismiss an amended complaint alleging that the voice actor Plaintiffs’ voices were unlawfully cloned by Defendant Lovo’s AI Voice Generator. Plaintiffs allege that Lovo’s CEO stated on a podcast...more
Image-generating technology is accelerating quickly, making it much more likely that you will be seeing "digital replicas" (sometimes referred to as "deepfakes") of celebrities and non-celebrities alike across film,...more
On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court held that the Lanham Act’s prohibition on registering trademarks utilizing another person's name without consent was constitutional. In Vidal v. Elster 602 U. S. ____ (2024), the Supreme...more
With the advent of AI technology capable of replicating a person's voice and utilizing it for commercial purposes, several key legal issues are likely to emerge under California's right of publicity law. The right of...more
Recent advances in technology and artificial intelligence have the power to completely disrupt the world of advertising, media, music, sports, and entertainment by manipulating digital content to create synthetic photos and...more
Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) have made it easier than ever to replicate a person's name, image, and likeness (NIL), particularly if that person is a celebrity. AI algorithms require massive amounts of "training...more
Is the Wavy Baby a sneaker or a comment on “sneaker culture”? A commercial product or a collectible artwork? This is the most recent variation on a question that has had growing urgency in trademark law over the past decade:...more
During the 2016 presidential primaries, then presidential candidates Donald Trump and Senator Marco Rubio exchanged insults, with Trump calling Rubio “Little Marco” and Rubio commenting on the size of Trumps hands. Recently,...more
We previously wrote about a series of trademark lawsuits filed by NBA MVP and now NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo over the use of his nickname “Greek Freak”. Those lawsuits all contained similar allegations: that the...more
Addressing a myriad of issues involving unauthorized use of professional models’ photographs for gentlemen’s clubs’ promotional materials, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that the district court erred in...more
In a detailed order that strongly affirmed the First Amendment rights of documentarians, on Aug. 2, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a lawsuit brought by Bobby Brown—the bad boy of...more
Ariana Grande, identified in a recent complaint filed in federal court as an “internationally renowned singer, songwriter and actress,” is challenging struggling retailer Forever 21’s use of images that allegedly mimic Ms....more
What is a world-wide, massively popular pop music star and actor supposed to do when a company negotiates with her to secure her image in an endorsement deal, declines to pay her asking price, but then goes ahead, without...more
Several entertainers, including Brooklyn rapper 2 Milly, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Instagram’s “Backpack Kid” and “Orange Shirt Kid”, sued Epic Games, Inc., the owner of the popular game Fortnite. What do all of these individuals...more
Summary Judgment Affirmed for Defendant in Lanham Act Challenge to Statements Concerning Popularity of Advertiser’s Product, Scarcity of Challenger’s Product: Verisign, Inc. v. XYZ.COM LLC, 848 F.3d 292 (4th Cir. 2017)...more
Last month, Sofia Vergara, star of ABC’s Modern Family, reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by the actress against beauty company Venus Concept for alleged improper use of her likeness on television and in social media,...more
Premier League Takes the Pitch in Fight against Pirated Streams - The United Kingdom's most popular soccer league is using skillful legal tackling to maintain possession of its intellectual property. The Football...more
A recent case in the Southern District of Florida serves as a reminder that even trade secrets may be subject to production to opposing counsel. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman recently ordered a defendant “swingers’” club...more
In a short, sharp opinion filed August 17, 2016, a three-judge panel on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a class action lawsuit brought by ten former college athletes asserting they were entitled to...more
In her posthumously published autobiography, My Story, screen legend Marilyn Monroe wrote: “I knew I belonged to the public and to the world, not because I was talented or even beautiful but because I had never belonged to...more
What are a veteran NFL player’s name, image, and likeness worth in the burgeoning (but recently beleaguered-by-lawsuits) daily fantasy sports gaming industry? NFL wide receiver Pierre Garçon’s putative class action lawsuit...more
Fifty-Six Hope Road is a company run by some of Bob Marley's children, and it owns the property rights to Bob Marley's name, voice and likeness. Hope Road licensed Zion Rootswear the exclusive right to use Marley's name and...more