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Archives for February 2013

Fakler Speaking On Copyright Royalty Rate Litigation At NARM Conference

February 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Copyright symbol largeI will be speaking on copyright royalty rate litigation at NARM’s Entertainment & Technology Law Conference this week, discussing the intricacies of litigating before the Copyright Royalty Board and the ASCAP and BMI rate courts.  For those interested in rate-setting litigation, it should be an excellent panel, with Jonathan Potter moderating.  Ken Steinthal and I will be speaking from the music service / licensee perspective, and Lucy Holmes Plovnick speaking from the copyright owner perspective.

There will also be other interesting panels, covering copyright, trademark/domain name and right of publicity issues of topical interest.  The conference will be held this Thursday, February 28, 2013, from 1:00 to 5:30 pm.  Here is a link for more information: http://digitalmusic.org/events/new-york-entertainment-technology-law-conference-2/

 

Filed Under: Compulsory Licenses & Rate Court, Litigation, Music, Sound Recordings Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Holy Utilitarian Object, Batman! Court Rules Batmobile Design Is Copyrighted Character!

February 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Parade Adam WestA California district court has granted DC Comics summary judgment on copyright infringement claims against a manufacturer of famous car replicas, who sold replicas of the versions of the Batmobile depicted in the 1966 television show and the 1989 movie.  The case presented several interesting issues, including ownership and copyrightability.

With respect to ownership, the case was brought by DC Comics, notwithstanding that the two particular versions of the Batmobile copied by the defendant were not created for the comics, but rather were created by the respective television show and movie producers.  The only copyright registrations covering the two versions of the Batmobile at issue in the case listed those production companies, not DC Comics, as the copyright claimants.  [Read more…]

photo by: LaMenta3
Filed Under: Litigation, Ownership, Substantial Similarity Tagged With: , , , , , , ,