Recent Articles

Suing is Not Always As Easy As It Seems

Vince Manapat
May 19, 2010 15:35

People rarely understand how costly, time consuming, and grueling a lawsuit can be. In a sense, being right is not enough. Earlier this month, the U.S. Copyright Group partnered with some independent studios to sue thousands of file-sharers. But Time-Warner is resisting the lawsuits because of the...

Navigating the Complexities of Termination Rights

Vince Manapat
May 18, 2010 18:26

I’ve written about termination rights in the past with respect to John Steinbeck’s works. The issue of termination rights is a complex one, but Shourin Sen at Exclusive Rights has made the subject much simpler with his “Copyright Termination Calculator.” According to Sen,...

2nd Circuit’s Salinger v Colting Decision

Vince Manapat
May 17, 2010 15:19

The Second Circuit remanded the Salinger v. Colting case, holding that: eBay abrogated parts of this Court’s preliminary injunction standard in copyright cases, and accordingly, this case must be remanded to the District Court to reevaluate Salinger’s preliminary injunction motion. In...

Sam Moore Lawsuit Against Weinstein Company Will Go to Trial

Vince Manapat
May 15, 2010 23:43

In late 2008, Sam Moore sued the Weinstein Company over the production of its film “Soul Men.” The premise of the film is that “two estranged soul-singing legends agree to participate in a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater.” One of the “soul-singing”...

The Net Profit Pitfall

Vince Manapat
April 23, 2010 13:35

Net profit definitions are notorious in the film industry. In on of the most egregious examples, the film Forrest Gump, which is the fourth highest grossing film in history, never turned a “net profit.” It seems that problems relating to net profit definitions are still coming up. THR...

The Economist on Copyright Protection

Vince Manapat
April 22, 2010 15:19

There is an interesting article in The Economist concerning attempts to strengthen copyright protection. The article makes some good points about the arguments for increased protection. For instance, “The notion that lengthening copyright increases creativity is questionable, however. Authors...

Contract Review By a Computer Program

Vince Manapat
April 21, 2010 12:53

Will computers replace lawyers one day? I doubt it, but some are already taking steps in that direction. JavaCoolSoftware has released the “,” a program that will “analyze license agreements in seconds, and provide a detailed listing of potentially interesting words and...

Entertainment Industry Aspirations

Vince Manapat
April 19, 2010 17:20

Earlier this year Victoria A. Espinel, the government’s Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, requested submissions from the public concerning the future of intellectual property enforecement in the United States. The MPAA and RIAA submitted a brief that is remarkable in its breadth....

Disney Characters Explain Copyright

Vince Manapat
April 02, 2010 13:03

Via the Licensing Plate — a short video wherein a number of famous Disney characters explain the intricacies of copyright law.

Current Copyright Disputes

Vince Manapat
March 27, 2010 18:59

The Copyright Wars continue to be fought in all fronts. Here is a sampling of some current disputes: (1) Artist Dereck Seltzer has sued the band Green Day for copyright infringement claiming that Green Day used one of Seltzer’s images in their live show without a license. Examiner. (2) Robert...