The Wall Street Journal has added a investigative series to their blog titled What They Know. Sounds sufficiently scary. I think this is noteworthy for two reasons. First, its a sign that the intersection of privacy and marketing is no longer an issue just for law geeks. Second, the blog seems to have done aRead more about Wall Street Journal Adds Digital Privacy Series[…]
The Librarian of Congress has recommended new exemptions from the prohibition on circumventing digital copy protections including one exemption for “jailbreaking” phones so that you can install your own software. Another sign that perhaps section 1201 might not be as broadly applied going forward is this recent decision from the Fifth Circuit. That case involvedRead more about Digital Locks Loosening?[…]
“Mark Twain famously said that a lie can go around the world while truth is still putting on its boots.” MinnPost has a great article with lessons businesses can learn from the Shirley Sherrod story. Cooler heads and actual evidence should have prevailed in the first place.
I have a new podcast over at Tech{dot}MN. I interviewed Ray Bonnabeau of Hellmuth & Johnson about what software companies need to think about to make sure they truly own the software code the are using and creating. Ray is a really smart guy and the topic is something that is overlooked so frequently byRead more about Copyright Law and Ownership of Software[…]
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
A short article I wrote summarizing the Costco v. Omega case was published in the Minnesota Intellectual Property Law Association’s New Matter™ Newsletter. The case is about the “first sale” doctrine in copyright law and specifically, whether goods manufactured and sold abroad can be imported into the United States without the permission of the copyrightRead more about Summary of Costco v. Omega in MIPLA Newsletter[…]
A group called the U.S. Copyright Group (USCG) has filed a lawsuit against thousands of as yet unknown people who may (or may not) have downloaded or uploaded movies on file sharing networks. The strategy, which has been employed by others in the past, is to file or threaten to file a lawsuit and thenRead more about Why I Volunteered for the EFF[…]
One of the several reasons your trademark might be refused registration by the USPTO is that your proposed mark is scandalous or immoral. Without too much further explanation you might guess that a certain word starting with “F” and rhyming with “duck” might be problematic as a trademark. You would be right. Trademarks can beRead more about F-bomb Trademarks[…]
The fictional high school chorus at the center of Fox’s Glee has a huge problem — nearly a million dollars in potential legal liability. For a show that regularly tackles thorny issues like teen pregnancy and alcohol abuse, it’s surprising that a million dollars worth of lawbreaking would go unmentioned. But it does, and weekRead more about But. . . they did it on TV: What Glee teaches about copyright[…]
The Twitter account @BPGlobalPR has more followers than the real BP Twitter account. Yes its fake and they use the BP name and logo. The tweets are both biting and funny, at least to people who don’t work at BP. But is it trademark infringement? If trademark law exists primarily prevent confusion in the marketplaceRead more about Trademarks and Oil Spills[…]