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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property

‘What What In The Butt’ Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Gets Dismissed

Compare that video with the South Park parody video, below. South Park displayed that clip in one of its episodes which aired in 2008.  Late last year, Brownmark Films, which produced the original non-parody video, sued Viacom and Comedy Central for airing the clip.  The suit contended that the airing of the parody amounted to copyright infringement. […]

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Contracts Headline Sports Law

Bradley University’s Legal Battle Against Jim Les

Bradley University may once again find itself as a named defendant in a case involving its basketball program.  Approximately 2 months ago, I wrote about Kent State’s lawsuit against men’s basketball coach Geno Ford based on Ford’s refusal to pay Kent State $1.2 million the school believes it is owed according to Ford’s buyout clause in his former […]

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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property

Pornography Copyright Claims Against Grandmothers and College Students

Pornography.  A lot of people watch it.  A lot of pornography that is watched is not illegally obtained.  However, you can almost be sure that if you are downloading pornography through a BitTorrent client, you obtaining a movie for free that the copyright holder wants you to pay for.  Such an act is illegal. Pornographic […]

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Copyright Headline Intellectual Property

Righthaven Goes On Lawsuit Spree; May End Up Being Sued By Many

A company called Righthaven LLC has been very busy filing lawsuits on behalf of  the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post based on a claim that others are stealing published information from the papers, which supposedly amounts to copyright infringement.  At last count, Righthaven has filed a total of 275 lawsuits without providing any advance warning to […]

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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property

How To Confront Someone Using Your Photos Without Permission

Are you on social networking sites?  Do you use Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Flickr or a combination of the four?  Perhaps you are on a smaller, niche social networking site.  No matter what sites you are using, you are probably uploading photos – photos of yourself, your pets, scenic spots on your vacations – that you […]

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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property Trademarks

Recording Industry Concerned About New Top-Level Domains

Roughly a month ago, I discussed the announcement that starting in 2012, there will be many new top-level domains (TLDs) available for the public.  Whereas now you can buy domain names with a restricted number of top-level domain tags such as .com, .net, .org, in the near future, you will be able to customize your […]

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Entertainment Law Headline

Sexual Discrimination Lawsuit Against Creative Artists Agency And William Morris Endeavor

Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor are two of Hollywood’s top talent agencies.  They are currently being sued in federal court in the Southern District of New York by a man named Justin Samuels, who is arguing that he was denied work by the two companies based on their racially and sexually discriminatory practices.  But was he […]

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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property

Pornographic Film Studios Strike Fear in Alleged Copyright Infringers

Large internet copyright infringement lawsuits have been filed in 2011, and not all of them relate to movies consumers pay to see at the theaters.  In fact, pornographic film studios are suing downloaders with regularity this year, creating a new revenue stream out of lawsuit settlements.  Sometimes it is worthwhile for accused infringers to settle […]

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Contracts Headline Sports Law

11th Circuit Holds That Attorneys Cannot Take Fees Out Of NFL Disability Awards

There is nothing wrong with providing legal services to retired National Football League (NFL) players.  In fact, many retired NFL players have good claims for benefits and deserve representation by competent attorneys.  However, if an attorney provides legal services in such a case involving payment through the NFL pension and disability plan, he/she should not […]

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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property

Internet Service Providers Considering New Graduated Response To Copyright Infringement

The Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA), also known as DMCA 512 was passed in 1998 as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). OCILLA is also known as the “Safe Harbor” provision in the DMCA, which shields internet service providers (ISPs) from being forced to pay any monetary damages as a result of […]