Author: Bruce R. Ewing
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BREAKING NEWS: The Supreme Court Rules that You Need a Copyright Registration to Sue for Copyright Infringement in Federal Court
This morning, the Supreme Court resolved a longstanding circuit split about whether a copyright infringement plaintiff must first obtain a registration from the Copyright Office for the work upon which its claim is based before initiating an infringement lawsuit, or whether it need only file an application for registration of that work before filing suit. …
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Federal Circuit Kicks Chuck Taylor Case Back to ITC
In the latest chapter of a long-running trademark dispute involving the outsole used by Converse, Inc. with its well-known CHUCK TAYLOR shoes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has issued a ruling vacating an International Trade Commission decision that went against Converse and booting the dispute back to the ITC on remand. In 2014, Converse…
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de Havilland vs Feud – FX Wins Round in California Court of Appeal
It is hard to imagine that any one person could initiate separate lawsuits resulting in decisions of substantial importance to the entire U.S. entertainment industry. And when that person is iconic actress Olivia de Havilland – best known for her roles in “Gone With the Wind,” “The Heiress” and dozens of other films from Hollywood’s…
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Famed NYT Cartoonist Illustrates Winning Argument in Breach of Contract Action
For more than seven decades, the Arts sections of the New York Times featured cartoons by the famous artist Al Hirschfeld, whose works were celebrated for their clean crisp lines, as well as the artist’s penchant for embedding the name of his daughter, Nina, in his images. After a long, rich life, Hirschfeld died in…
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Brand Names as Stage Names – Tribute or Infringement?
While all the world might be a stage, the famous U.K. fashion house Burberry Limited has now established that none of its players – except Burberry – has the right in the U.S. to use the famous Burberry trademark as a stage name. That’s the upshot of a decision issued by a Manhattan federal court…
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Is the New York Road Runners Club Running a Sweepstakes or an Illegal Lottery?
Is the New York City Marathon running an illegal lottery? According to a class action complaint filed in the Southern District of New York last week, the answer is “yes”. The two named plaintiffs in Konopa v. New York Road Runners Club, Inc. assert that the Marathon is an illegal lottery because entrants must pay an…
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Can My Website Subject My Business to Liability Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)?
It may come as a surprise that the answer to the above question is yes, or so a number of plaintiffs claim in lawsuits that have been filed recently in the U.S. More specifically, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, dozens of cases have been filed by plaintiffs against large…