In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has been grappling with the thorny question of how the First Amendment applies to trademarks. In this blog post, attorney Thomas B. James attempts a reconciliation of recent pronouncements.
The Slants (Matal v. Tam)
Simon Tam, lead singer of the band, The Slants, tried to register the
Is that a source identifier in your pocket or are you just being descriptive?
A trademark gives its owner an exclusive right to use it in connection with a particular kind or category of products or services. At the same time, though, trademark law seeks to promote competition. To that end, it generally does not
Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy
Are damages for copyright infringement always limited to the three-year period before suit is filed? The Supreme Court says no.
The Limitations Period for Copyright Infringement
The Copyright Act imposes a three-year statute of limitations for copyright infringement claims: “No civil action shall be maintained under the provisions of this
A very brief summary of where pending AI lawsuits stand as of February 28, 2024. Compiled by Minnesota attorney Thomas James.
Thomson Reuters v. Ross, (D. Del. 2020)
Filed May 6, 2020. Thomson Reuters, owner of Westlaw, claims that Ross Intelligence infringed copyrights in Westlaw headnotes by training AI on copies of them. The judge
A reversal in the 4th Circuit Court demonstrates the impact the Supreme Court’s decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts v. Goldsmith is already having on the application of copyright fair use doctrine in federal courts.
Philpot v. Independent Journal Review, No. 21-2021 (4th Circ., Feb. 6, 2024)
Philpot, a concert photographer, registered
Creative expressions generally are protected by copyright law. Sometimes, however, they are not. When that is the case, a work is said to be in “the public domain.”
The rules specifying the conditions for copyright protection vary from country to country. In the United States, they are set out in the Copyright Act, which
2023 was a big year for U.S. intellectual property law. Major developments occurred in every area. Here are the highlights.
Copyright
Fair Use
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith et al.
I’ve written about this case before here and here. The Supreme Court issued a ruling in the case in
FTC Press Release exceprt
While Congress and the courts are grappling with the copyright issues that AI has generated, the federal government’s primary consumer watchdog has made a rare entry into the the realm of copyright law. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a Comment with the U.S. Copyright Office suggesting that generative-AI could
Artists Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz filed a class action lawsuit against Stability AI, DeviantArt, and MidJourney in federal district court alleging causes of action for copyright infringement, removal or alteration of copyright management information, and violation of publicity rights. (Andersen, et al. v. Stability AI Ltd. et al., No. 23-cv-00201-WHO
Black hole consuming a star. Photo credit: NASA.
What are your favorite generative-AI copyright issues? In this capsule summary, Cokato attorney Tom James shares what his three favorites are.
Generative artificial intelligence refers collectively to technology that is capable of generating new text, images, audio/visual and possibly other content in response to a user’s prompts.
