A production company in California, Bengal Mangle Productions, has filed a lawsuit against Seth MacFarlane alleging copyright infringement over the 2012 movie about a foul-mouthed stuffed toy “Ted”.
Posts Tagged ‘Copyright’
Does Copyright Protect Film Characters?
July 19, 2014Paul Walker’s Tragic Death Underscores Filmmakers’ Need for Key Man Insurance
December 13, 2013News of Paul Walker’s death was tragic and unsettling. As an avid car enthusiast, I am a big fan of the “Fast” franchise of adrenaline pumping car chase movies. I’m sure I join his many fans in mourning our loss. Which got me thinking about whether the installment of the film franchise in which he […]
5 #Legal Questions to Ask BEFORE Starting Your #Crowdfunding Project
April 9, 2013Five Legal Questions To Ask BEFORE Crowd-funding You Next Film (or Creative) Project Intro I recently had the opportunity to share the stage at a Chicago VentureShot Community panel presentation on crowdfunding an independent film project. My client successfully raised enough funds to produce his film through the Crowdfunding site KickStarter.com. Due to the unpredictable […]
Online Video: Copyright & Related Issues
March 27, 2012Pinterest tightens copyright rules CBS News Unfortunately, given that consumers are putting masses of copyrighted photos onto their boards, that becomes a problem. After all, Pinterest doesn’t want to take the legal heat for making coin on the backs of someone else’s intellectual property. See Also: Pinterest Terms Of Service Get Updated If Web movie views double, […]
EFF: Viacom-You Tube lawsuit threatens DMCA “Safe Harbors”
April 8, 2011The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of advocacy groups filed an Amicus (friend of the court) brief Thursday, arguing that the infringement claims made by Viacom in the appeal of Viacom v. YouTube threaten the “safe harbor” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The EFF argues that services like YouTube have […]
Political Sites Don’t Have Blanket Fair Use Exemption From Copyright Laws
October 29, 2010Legal Issues With Online Video For Business: Texas Governor Rick Perry (still) Learning the Hard Way. As reported this week on the Star-Telegram.com, Gov. Perry’s YouTube account was shut down due to copyright violations. The campaign has used multiple YouTube accounts, most recently to post videos attacking political rival Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. Although the campaign removed those […]
Cake Boss Trademark lawsuit settled. The show will go on
October 24, 2010Cake Boss trademark lawsuit highlights the need to clear trademark/IP rights This one has been a hot topic around the water cooler at IP law firms. Apparently no one at the Learning Channel thought to “clear” the rights to the show title “Cake Boss.” Trademark clearance involves a broad search for rights holders who may […]
What if my work was published in a new work without giving me credit?
August 25, 2010Imagine this scenario: As part of your job you provide training for business outside your organization such as customers or vendors. During one of your training sessions, you are approached and asked to contribute to a video version of the training session that the organization plans to post online and portions of which may be […]
iPhone “Jailbreak” Ruling Bolster’s Technology Fair Use
July 28, 2010Ruling clarifies the legality of cell phone “jailbreaking” — software modifications that liberate handsets to run applications from sources other than those approved by the phone maker.
Can I Be Sued For Posting Someone Else’s Content On My Web Site?
June 25, 2010The Internet, and sites like YouTube, provide useful and entertaining content to individuals anytime anywhere. The growth in online video marketing is a fait accompli. Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, protects Internet service providers from legal liability for using copyrighted material, as long as the firm does not know that the content is copyrighted when it publishes it.
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