Paul Godfread was named a SuperLawyers Rising Star for the third year in a row.

This case is one of the few “John Doe” copyright cases filed in Minnesota recently. In an order dated August 14, 2013, Magistrate Judge Keyes allowed subpoenas to be served on various internet service providers. This case is one of many nationwide that use so called “swarm joinder” to allege that anyone who downloaded theRead more about TCYK v. Does 1-17 – ISP Subpoenas OKed by Court[…]

The phenomenon of filing copyright lawsuits against anonymous “John Doe” internet users has been going on for several years now. While very few of these type of cases have been filed in Minnesota, there seem to have been about a dozen or so cases filed in the past couple of months. There are several differentRead more about Copyright “negligence” in Minnesota[…]

On August 20, the Minnesota Court of Appeals overturned the district court verdict in Moore v. Hoff. This was a strange case but ultimately the question turned on whether the First Amendment protects true statements that cause someone to be fired. We won at trial on the issue of defamation, but the jury returned aRead more about Free Speech Victory in Minnesota[…]

Justice Frankfurter in Mishawaka Rubber & Woolen Mfg. Co. v. S.S. Kresge Co., 316 U.S. 203 (1942) makes the case for protecting your trademark: “The protection of trade-marks is the law’s recognition of the psychological function of symbols. . . . Whatever the means employed, the aim is the same – to convey through theRead more about Trademarks, the Psychology of Commercial Symbols[…]

This is probably not news to anyone. But it has been a significant issue in copyright litigation lately. A judge in the of the Northern District of Illinois dismissed a suit filed by the Steele Law Firm on the grounds that it hadn’t identified any individuals as defendants and hadn’t served anyone either. A listRead more about IP Addresses Are Not People[…]

The FTC recently testified before Congress that there should be a function in browsers to allow a “Do Not Track” option. I am a bit cynical about how effective this might be considering I get robo-calls offering to lower my interest despite the “Do Not Call” list and I still get spam despite CAN-SPAM andRead more about FTC Moves Towards “Do Not Track” List[…]

I came across this post in the Freakonomics blog about how we value “pioneers” or people who make something entirely new and the “tweakers” who take existing works and improve them. Its a good article about an interesting problem because both “pioneers” and “tweakers” make art and technology better, but in different ways.

I missed this when it was originally published. I spoke to the IABC a couple of weeks ago about internet law for marketing and public relations professionals. In attendance was Jen Carlton of Priority Marketing who blogged about the copyright and fair use portion of my talk. Thank you Jen! I’m not surprised that theRead more about Fair Use – Priority Marketing Blog[…]

Trademarks are fickle things. You only have them so long as people know and associate you (and only you) with that trademark. Whether or not you have a registration, your rights exist only exist if that trademark continues to distinguish you from everyone else. So, if you have found a potential infringer do you haveRead more about “Is a trademark lawsuit worth it?”[…]