It’s April 26, which means it’s World Intellectual Property Day. How are you planning on celebrating? Long ago, the only types of property were physical objects and real property (also known as “land.”) The law eventually came to recognize that the intangible works of the human mind were also valuable and worthy of protection. Hence, intellectual property. Definitions vary, but in the U.S., we typically identify four categories of intellectual property: Copyright The U.S. Copyright Office defines copyright as “a form of protection grounded in the U.S. Constitution and granted by law for original works of authorship fixed in a…
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Archives: Copyrights
Copyright Case: Can You Create Your Own Star Trek Movie?
February 25, 2016
A current lawsuit brings into question the amount of copyright protection afforded to Star Trek, one of the most successful TV and film franchises. A group of Star Trek fans have been working to create an unauthorized prequel film to be titled Axanar. They’ve put together a short “mockumentary” called Prelude to Axanar to help promote and raise funds for the forthcoming feature: Paramount, the owner of the official Star Trek franchise, has filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement. This week, the defendants (Axanar Productions), filed a document with the court that raises some interesting questions. Essentially, in Paramount’s complaint, they…
Tattoo Copyright Case – NBA 2K16 Game Leads to Suit Over LeBron & Kobe Tattoos
February 9, 2016
A new lawsuit claims copyright infringement in the video game NBA 2K16 over tattoos on players such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Will a court finally rule on the tattoo copyright issue?
The Who’s On First Copyright Fair Use Case
January 26, 2016
The heirs of Abbott & Costello sued the producers of the Broadway hit “Hand to God” over the use of the famous “Who’s On First?” routine in the show. The court ruled that the play’s use of the comedy routine was copyright fair use.
