The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a U.S. copyright law that criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures (often referred to as digital rights management or DRM) that control access to copyrighted works. The DMCA criminalizes circumventing an access control, whether or not …Read More
Intellectual Property “Trolling” Some of you may have heard of the term “patent troll” within the context of patent rights. In case you haven’t, the generally accepted definition of a patent troll is: an individual or legal entity (such as a business) that attempts to obtain licensing fees or a legal settlement from an alleged …Read More
Hydraulic Fracturing Chemicals – Protected Trade Secret? Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” is the use of water, sand, and chemicals to fracture rocks deep in the ground in order to release and collect hydrocarbon products. Fracking is controversial due to its alleged negative environmental impact. One of the key battles between environmental and community groups and …Read More
The Fair Use Exception to the Copyright In the United States, a copyright gives the author of a work certain protections, such as making it illegal to copy or utilize the work without the author’s permission. However, one exception to this rule is “fair use.” In the most basic sense, fair use allows the work …Read More
1. Copyright Infringement and the First Sale Doctrine under U.S. Copyright Law Copyright law gives certain rights to a copyright’s owner, including the right to prevent others from copying or displaying the owner’s work. The first-sale doctrine is a competing policy interest and legal concept that plays an important role in U.S. copyright [verify]. It limits …Read More
Copyright Law Basics Even though you may not know the definition of a copyright, you probably understand the basic concept of a copyright: the author of a creative work holds certain rights to that work, such as restricting the copying or profiting of that work without the author’s permission. According to the United States Copyright …Read More
Trademarks and Trade Dress Trade dress refers to the visual appearance of a product or its packaging that convey the source of the product to consumers. Trade dress protection is intended to protect consumers from packaging or appearance of products designed to imitate other products, to prevent consumers from buying one product under the mistaken …Read More
The Difference Between Copyright Assignments And Licenses There are two ways that a copyright owner can transfer some or all of his or her copyright rights: through a license or an assignment. In an assignment of copyright rights, the owner sells his or her ownership rights to another party and has no control over how …Read More
Written Copyright Assignments Required From Independent Contractors To obtain copyright assignments from independent contractors who perform work for you (including photographers, web or graphics designers, copyrighters, etc.) this copyright assignment must be in writing to comply with federal copyright law. If you do not obtain a writing from the copyright owner assigning you the copyright, …Read More
Trademark Basics Even if you don’t know what a trademark is, you’d still probably recognize one. In fact, by reading this blog, there’s a good chance you may even recognize a trademark within your field of vision. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, a trademark is, “a word, phrase, symbol or design, …Read More
