(Podcast) The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter?
The Briefing: What Is Fair Use and Why Does It Matter?
(Podcast) The Briefing: The Wrong Argument – Why Authors Lost Against Meta and What Comes Next
(Podcast) The Briefing: The Supreme Court Dodges the Discovery Rule Question—What That Means for Copyright Enforcement
Can Tattoos Be Copyrighted? The Legal Battle Over Mike Tyson's Iconic Ink — No Infringement Intended Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Millions at Stake – How 2 Live Crew Beat Bankruptcy to Reclaim Their Music
The Briefing: Millions at Stake – How 2 Live Crew Beat Bankruptcy to Reclaim Their Music
The Briefing: Supreme Court Holds Copyright Damages Can Go Beyond 3 Years (Podcast)
SCOTUS applies the "discovery rule" in timely copyright infringement claim; Cher wins in Marital Settlement Agreement vs Copyright Grant Termination Notices; Student Athletes Win Revenue Share and NIL
Podcast: The Briefing - Court Rejects Post-Warhol Fair Use Defense in Photographer’s Copyright Lawsuit
Podcast: The Briefing by the IP Law Blog - What Now for Fair Use After Warhol v. Goldsmith
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: What Now for Fair Use After Warhol v. Goldsmith
Podcast: The Briefing by the IP Law Blog - The Essential Purpose of the Short Form Copyright Assignment (Archive)
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Miami Dolphins Coach Gets Sacked on Motion to Dismiss
Podcast: The Briefing by the IP Law Blog - Miami Dolphins Coach Gets Sacked on Motion to Dismiss
Podcast: The Briefing by the IP Law Blog - SCOTUS Issues First IP Ruling of 2022 in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Maurits, LP
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: SCOTUS Issues First IP Ruling of 2022 in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Maurits, LP
Podcast - The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise
The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: A Spooky Copyright Decision for Producers of Friday the 13th Franchise
Jones Day Talks: Women in IP: The Supreme Court's "Copyright Day"
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 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
The 1970s were the heyday of the now-extinct television genre known as the variety show: a weekly extravaganza headlined by a well-known entertainer, generally accompanied by a supporting cast of singers, dancers and...more
On May 9, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Warner Chappell Music Inc. et al. v. Sherman Nealy et al. (No. 22-1078), holding that copyright owners can recover damages going back more than three years based...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 Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, an appeal of the Eleventh Circuit’s determination that a copyright plaintiff can recover damages for infringement occurring more...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
There is a deepening circuit split on whether the US Copyright Act preempts contract claims arising from terms of service. A recent petition to the US Supreme Court by a song lyrics website highlights this, with potentially...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
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment on the issue of copyright infringement and an award of attorneys’ fees against the plaintiff under the Copyright Act. Although the Court noted...more
On March 9, 2020, Led Zeppelin won a major copyright battle over claims that they stole part of their signature song “Stairway to Heaven.” The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling en banc, upheld a 2016 jury verdict that...more
The so-called Big Three record companies—Universal, Sony, and Warner—have sued to hold an internet service provider liable for facilitating its customers’ copyright infringement....more
In our previous posts in our Music Law 101 series, we have covered the basics of copyright law, including the scope of copyright protection, copyright ownership, the exclusive rights of copyright, the duration of copyright...more
A purchaser of an article of commerce expects to be able to freely sell it regardless of any intellectual property rights that it may embody. The resale of digital files, however, runs into a special barrier that ReDigi...more
Once a copyright is created, protection generally lasts for 70 years after the death of the author and in some cases 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation. That’s a long time! After that time, the copyright...more
A federal appeals court finds that online music service ReDigi infringed Capitol Records' copyrights by allowing users to resell legally purchased iTunes files. Digital music files may not be lawfully resold, according to...more
A copyright owner’s exclusive rights, codified at Section 106 of the Copyright Act, include the right to control both the reproduction and the distribution of a work. The exclusive distribution right is tempered by the “first...more
So you’ve already written and recorded a song and determined who owns it, but now what can you as an owner do with it? What rights in the song do you have, that no one else does? The owner of the copyright in a work has...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in reversing a grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants, found that digitally remastered pre-1972 sound recordings were not entitled to protection under federal law as...more
Among copyright lawyers, Stairway to Heaven may become known not just for its abstract lyrics and acclaimed guitar solo, but also for the legal rulings that upended a jury verdict of non-infringement and sent the parties back...more
As we reported this spring, the “Music Modernization Act” (MMA) working through Congress avowed to bring the royalty determination formula for digital music services into the 21st Century. In April, the House of...more
We are pleased to introduce a new blog series. Music Law 101 will be a recurring bi-weekly series consisting of posts covering a wide variety of legal topics relevant to artists, musicians, songwriters, producers, and others...more
After more than a decade of litigation, the Ninth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of an infringement action against Jay-Z for his song, Big Pimpin’, holding moral rights under Egyptian law are unenforceable in the U.S....more
The House of Representatives unanimously passed the Music Modernization Act last week by a vote of 415-0! Imagine our divided Congress passing anything with no opposition. This is actually not uncommon with music industry...more