I don’t know about anybody else, but I always feel like the nerd invited to eat lunch with the popular kids with the USSC hears an IP case. Yesterday, the Big Dogs heard a nifty little First Amendment Copyright case that I honestly don't know how to feel about yet....
A recent addition to what could be the next tsunami of copyright suits, Jim Peterik of 1982 Survivor fame is contemplating getting the rights back for the gloriously awesome song “Eye of the Tiger”. Source. Termination rights are covered in Title 17. Long story short, if you licensed or assigned your...
by Vaughn Greenwalt The latest criticism of mass-copyright litigation follows the same mantra of previously-pissed patrons: “I know I stole your porn but I’ll be embarrassed if anyone finds out so you can’t sue me!” Cut the crap already, “shame” is not a legal defense. Lets play fact or fiction with the...
By J. DeVoy This is the trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. It was a popular book, so naturally I neither read nor cared about it. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails fame scored the movie, which includes a cover of Led Zepplin's Immigrant Song, performed with Karen O...
By J. DeVoy Yesterday, the District of Colorado dismissed Righthaven LLC's copyright infringement lawsuit against Leland Wolf and the It Makes Sense Blog in Righthaven LLC v. Wolf et al., Case Number 1:11-cv-00830. The Wolf case was the only active matter in Righthaven's 57 cases filed in the District of Colorado,...
By J. DeVoy The Second Circuit dealt a body blow to the first purchase doctrine (aka first sale doctrine) in Wiley v. Kirtsaeng, a case about resold textbooks manufactured and obtained overseas - though subject to U.S. copyright registrations - and resold stateside. The Second Circuit held that such transactions are...
In the wake of this recent legal development, Torrent Freak has published an open debate over the issue of negligence claims in copyright infringement cases involving open wifi networks. I provided the pro side of the debate here. Nick Ranallo provides the con side of the debate here....
By J. DeVoy The intersection of adult entertainment and the measure of statutory damages under the Copyright Act - one of colleague Ron Coleman's favorite subjects - all in one article from XBIZ? How conveeenient. Ron is counsel of record with Marc and I in Righthaven LLC v. Hyatt, where, on behalf...
By J. DeVoy Subpoenaing the monkey would resolve some of these issues. But we cannot. Per Peter Gabriel, you can shock the monkey - but you cannot subpoena him. Those are for people. Plus, monkeys can be extraordinarily violent. There's nothing alpha about serving a subpoena on a creature that's prone to...
By J. DeVoy Today, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Hunt held a hearing regarding the Order to Show Cause he previously issued in Righthaven LLC v. Democratic Underground LLC et al, Case No. 2:10-cv-01356 (D. Nev.). Righthaven, represented by Las Vegas attorney Shawn Mangano and national law firm Kirkland & Ellis...
