Sometimes, Supreme Court opinions make headlines. This is not one of those times. In a decision issued on March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court resolved an ongoing unresolved question that comes up often in copyright litigation – in order to…
Category: copyright
Copyright Term of What Pet Should I Get? by Dr. Seuss
So, according to the New York Times, a new, previously unpublished Dr. Seuss book originally called The Pet Shop will be published this year as What Pet Should I Get?. Because I practice copyright law, my first thought was “what’s…
Public Domain Day 2015
Happy New Year’s Public Domain Day 2014! The duration of copyright for a work can be very complicated. For many works, it’s the life of the author, plus 70 years. For other works, it’s 95 years from publication or 120…
Copyright Assignments
In a previous post, I discussed who owns copyright to a work in view of Copyright law’s so called “Work Made For Hire” doctrine. As mentioned, the answer is somewhat shocking to people who are unfamiliar with the law. Put…
DMCA Misconceptions
Matt Miller, Registered Patent Attorney
Posted in copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act
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I’ve seen some articles published recently, and I thought it might be a good idea to clear up two misconceptions about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), in particular, the provisions which limit liability for online service providers who take…
Huey Lewis v. Ray Parker, Jr.
In view of it being the 30th anniversary of the release of the original Ghostbusters movie, here’s some interesting legal trivia. But first, listen to this. Then, listen to this. Now, do you hear some similarities? Huey Lewis did, and…
What is the difference between patents, copyrights, and trademarks?
What’s the difference between a patent, a copyright, and a trademark? Well, there’s the short answer and there’s the long answer. The Short answer is that trademarks protect brand names, copyrights protect artistic expression, and patents protect new ideas. For…
How to comply with the “safe harbor” provisions of the DMCA (17 USC § 512)
Matt Miller, Registered Patent Attorney
Posted in copyright, Digital Millennium Copyright Act
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Did you know that, for a website operator to take advantage of Section 512(c) of the DMCA, he must designate a Copyright Agent with the United States Copyright Office? This means that some businesses who think they can rely on…
Who owns copyright to a work?
Just about any type of creative expression (including software, photography, artwork, books, movies, and many other types of works) can be protected by copyright law. But, a question that is often overlooked is “who owns copyright to that work?” The…
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