When the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo’s wedding video, set to Coldplay’s song “Fix You,” went viral on YouTube, the videographer, Joe Simon Wedding Films, thought it would be great publicity for his business. Instead, Joe Simon was threatened with a $150,000 lawsuit for not having purchased a license for the music rights. He quickly and quietly settled the lawsuit. His company and many other wedding videographers proceeded to take down their work from the Internet for fear of similar lawsuits. From a technical standpoint, it’s clear that Simon violated a basic principle of copyright law by using the song…
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Archives: Entertainment Law
The Atlanta Braves Meet a Fairytale Princess
January 18, 2012
The Atlanta National League Baseball Club, which owns the Atlanta Braves, has filed “a formal objection” to Disney’s application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register the word BRAVE as a trademark. Disney’s Pixar division is promoting their movie Brave, which is set to be released in June 2012. The film is about a Scottish princess who must use her archery skills to save her kingdom from an evil curse. Where do the parties stand, and will anyone confuse a story about a fairytale princess with a group of baseball players in Georgia?
Can Tattoos Be Copyrighted?
January 4, 2012
Mike Tyson is known for many things, from boxing to ear biting. He has also made many movie and TV cameo appearances, and is well known for having a Maori-inspired tattoo covering the left side of his face. S. Victor Whitmill, the creator of the tattoo, has never had a problem with Mike Tyson making appearances in movies and TV shows with the tattoo, including The Hangover, but when the producers of The Hangover Part II attempted to duplicate that tattoo on Ed Helms’ face for the movie, Whitmill sued Warner Brothers for copyright infringement. The case ultimately settled before…
Copyright Small Claims?
November 2, 2011
The Copyright Act protects many works that may not have great commercial value. When a copyrighted work, like a photograph, is used without permission, there is often not a significant amount of economic damage to the copyright owner, and the costs of bringing a lawsuit against the infringer may actually dissuade them from filing a lawsuit. Imagine someone takes one of your Facebook photos and uses it on her personal website without your permission. Your copyright in that photo has been infringed, but what are you going to do about it? In the real world, this type of infringement usually…
