This month, our plan is to shift our focus on copyright laws, which at this time, is at a juncture of its own. Artificial intelligence is quickly sweeping across many areas of life. Google, for example, has just started funding a program that will write local news articles. Perhaps more stirringly,…
Today, we continue our focus on blockchain technology and surrounding rules and regulations. It is a nascent area and the subject of much debate. Last week, we discussed the jurisdictional issues this technology poses, as well as questions of liability, contract, and intellectual property. Today, we narrow our focus to one…
This week our focus shifts to a topic buzzing about the modern world. We have written on numerous occasions about cryptocurrency, but we have not discussed more pointedly the technological mechanism that yields it – i.e., the blockchain. A complex, decentralized technology with the power, accuracy, and security to replace…
This week’s article explores the European Union’s brewing copyright law and its possible effects on the internet. Proponents intend for the law to modernize and suit copyright law for the digital age. Critics say the law will make the internet substantially less free. Today we discuss the Directive on Copyright…
Now, by closing out this month and a deep dive into the future of copyright law comes a slightly more obscure reference to a recent change we’ve covered previously. Namely, what is, and what is not, protected under copyright when it comes to clothing? We now know that cheerleading uniforms…
In general, parody is a well-tested defense to copyright infringement claims. For example, legal cases involving Barbie Girls and Pretty Women have hammered in the points quite definitively, though the question of what exactly is parody has persisted throughout the years. Generally, it would be seen as something that ridicules…
Following in the theme of “advances in copyright law,” there is an additional snag that seems to occur every now and then. Who owns a picture of you? Naturally, a person may say: “Well, that is a picture of me, and if someone is selling it, or making money from…
In general, copyright lawsuits can be expensive. They require a lawyer who is well-versed with the copyright laws and federal court system. Yet, any creator or owner of copyright knows that the real scourge tends to happen with piracy. In some instances, no alterations, no messy facts, and no major…
A question for you to consider: Imagine a world where music is created by a random set of numbers. Who owns the music? Is it the programmer? Is it the user who gave specifications for the music? It’s certainly an odd question to ask, and unsurprisingly, one without a clear…
The Supreme Court recently reviewed Matal, Interim Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Tam (Matal v. Tam), which deals with trademark laws and what can be trademarked. In fact, before the case reached the Supreme Court, we have previously discussed how much is unsettled in this area of…