Sat.Aug 21, 2021 - Fri.Aug 27, 2021

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Copyright Takedown Gives Conservative Party Pretext to Remove Clumsy Political Attack Ad

Hugh Stephens Blog

Good political attack ads make voters angry with–or mock–the politician in the ad, reminding voters how much they dislike the targeted individual or party they represent. Poor political ads expose the sponsor of the ad to ridicule and remind voters why they should question the competence of the Party that created it.

Copyright 246
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3 Count: Legal Wolves

Plagiarism Today

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Tommy Vext Sued by Bad Wolves’ Label for Copyright Infringement. First off today, Philip Trapp at Loudwire reports that the battle between the Bad Wolves and their former lead singer Tommy Vext has taken an additional turn, with the band’s label suing Vext for copyright infringement.

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Are Fictional Characters Protected Under Copyright Law?

Creative Law Center

The independent life of fictional characters. Consider them an additional creative asset in a writer’s intellectual property portfolio. The post Are Fictional Characters Protected Under Copyright Law? appeared first on Creative Law Center.

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$949,284 quote from US Postal Inspection Service to address my FOIA request regarding trademark scammers!

Erik K Pelton

My jaw dropped a few weeks ago when I received the response to our FOIA request from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. They quoted me a $949,284 estimate to retrieve documents regarding trademark scam letters. See full letter below. Given such an expense, it seems that they must be sitting on a mountain of such documents. If so, how can there have been so few arrests or prosecutions over the years (a handful) while the scammers keep operating and even proliferating and moving into new means of

Trademark 203
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Software Composition Analysis: The New Armor for Your Cybersecurity

Speaker: Blackberry, OSS Consultants, & Revenera

Software is complex, which makes threats to the software supply chain more real every day. 64% of organizations have been impacted by a software supply chain attack and 60% of data breaches are due to unpatched software vulnerabilities. In the U.S. alone, cyber losses totaled $10.3 billion in 2022. All of these stats beg the question, “Do you know what’s in your software?

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Cable News Shows Are Defamation-Free Zones–OANN v. Maddow

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

This lawsuit involves the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Based on a story from the Daily Beast , Maddow ran a segment claiming that an OANN employee was on the Kremlin’s payroll, concluding that OANN “really literally is paid Russian propaganda.” OANN didn’t take kindly to this assertion and sued Maddow and others for defamation. Maddow sought an anti-SLAPP motion to strike, which the district court granted.

Blogging 145
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Retroactive Credit and the Future of Music Plagiarism

Plagiarism Today

Earlier this week, musician Olivia Rodrigo gave two members of the band Paramore retroactive credit on her song Good 4 U. The move came after many users began to notice similarities between Good 4 U and the 2007 Paramore song Misery Business , with some fans even creating mashups of the two songs. Though the reasons for the decision aren’t cle-ar, it was likely not one taken lightly.

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Big businesses need trademark protection; small businesses need it even more

Erik K Pelton

Big businesses need trademark protection; small businesses need it even more. A small business can be crushed by a trademark dispute, or a rebranding. Trademark protection costs money, but the benefits far outweigh the costs. If you are a small business, can you afford not to protect your brand? More PELTONISMS® at [link]. The post Big businesses need trademark protection; small businesses need it even more appeared first on Erik M Pelton & Associates, PLLC.

Business 173
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In First Half of 2021, 63% of U.S. Patents, 48.9% at EPO and 40.1% in China Were Software-Related

IP Watchdog

As an update to my posts from 2017, 2019, 2020, and March 2021, it has now been 86 months since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank decision. Yet the debate still rages over when a software (or computer-implemented) claim is patentable versus being simply an abstract idea “free to all men and reserved exclusively to none” (as eloquently phrased over 73 years ago by then-Supreme Court Justice Douglas in Funk Bros.

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3 Count: Telenovela Drama Ending

Plagiarism Today

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: 11th Circ Ends Drama Over Venezuelan Network in Telenovela Copyright Case. First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court decision in favor of Fernando Fraiz, a former president of the Venezuelan network LaTele, in their long-running fight against the Miami-based network Telemundo.

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The Pirate Bay Earned Millions in Bitcoin Donations (If it HODLed)

TorrentFreak

In 2013, several popular torrent sites added the option to donate via Bitcoin. The Pirate Bay was one of the first to jump on board and within a day the site’s users had donated a total of 5.5 bitcoins. At the time one bitcoin was worth $125. This means that the site earned roughly $700 in 24 hours, which looked promising. At today’s exchange rate we can even call it spectacular, but more on that later.

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IPO Diversity in Innovation Toolkit

Women and diverse employees have the technical skill and knowledge, yet their contributions are not patented at the same rate as those of their male counterparts.This toolkit can help organizations move the needle on achieving gender parity in innovation.

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Making trademarks – including these flora logos – bloom since 1999

Erik K Pelton

We’ve been making trademarks bloom since 1999, including these flora logos for client! The post Making trademarks – including these flora logos – bloom since 1999 appeared first on Erik M Pelton & Associates, PLLC.

Trademark 147
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Call for Applications: Research Assistants – IPR Chair at NALSAR, Hyderabad [Apply by August 25]

SpicyIP

We’re pleased to inform you that NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad is inviting applications for two research assistants for the IPR Chair Project. The deadline for applications is August 25, 2021. For further details, please see the announcement below: Advertisement for Recruitment for Research Assistants – IPR Chair. Logo of NALSAR, Hyderabad.

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Second Circuit Clarifies the Google v. Oracle Ruling

Plagiarism Today

In April of this year, the Supreme Court dropped a potential bombshell on the copyright world with its ruling in the Google v. Oracle case. The case looked at how Google used Java APIs in their Android mobile operating system as a way to make it easier to port existing programs (and programmers) over to it. Oracle threatened legal action, prompting a long-running lawsuit that wound its way through the courts for over a decade before the Supreme Court ruled on it.

Fair Use 245
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TorrentFreak News Article Targeted by Dubious ‘DRM Circumvention Complaint

TorrentFreak

At TorrentFreak, we have written hundreds of articles about dubious takedown notices. Today, we find ourselves at the center of another one. Earlier this week the ‘American Society of Composers’ sent a series of “DRM Circumvention” complaints to Google, acting on behalf of the Video Industry Association of America. These notices are similar to standard DMCA takedown requests but focus on content that violates the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision.

Music 145
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Golden Bunny III: No retroactive application of EU Trade Mark Directive

The IPKat

T he Golden Bunny trade mark litigation continues to hop along. Former Guest Kat Peter Ling reports on the recent decision of the German Federal Court of Justice regarding retroactive application of the EU Trade Marks Directive. In addition to being known as a source for great chocolate, Swiss chocolate producer Lindt may be known to Kat readers as a source of interesting developments of trade mark law, especially in the field of non-traditional trade marks (see Katposts on Lindt's 3D golden bun

Art 140
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Announcing the Winners of the 2nd Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on IP Law!

SpicyIP

A photograph of Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer. Following on from the success of last year’s inaugural edition of the Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on IP Law, on May 14 th , 2021 we announced the 2 nd edition of the Shamnad Basheer Essay Competition on the occasion of Shamnad ‘s 45 th birth anniversary. Like last year, we kept the topic selection open to participants – asking them to choose any topic they wanted so long as it related to IP.

Law 137
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3 Count: Turtle Defeat

Plagiarism Today

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Sirius XM Wins Appeal of Turtles Members’ California Copyright Claims. First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that digital radio service Sirius XM has notched yet another major win in their long-running dispute over royalties for pre-1972 sound recordings.

Reporting 237
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Fake ‘U.S. Copyright Office’ Sends Takedown Notices to Google

TorrentFreak

The U.S. Copyright Office is seen as the authority on intellectual property issues in the United States. Just a few months ago, the Government body released a thorough review of the DMCA’s safe harbor provisions , to see if these can be improved to better suit today’s online environment. During meetings with various stakeholders, DMCA takedown notices were also discussed in detail.

Copyright 145
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Second Circuit Rebukes District Court in Two-Decade Old Patsy’s Pizza Litigation

IP Watchdog

On August 17, in the case of I.O.B. Realty, Inc. v. Patsy's Brand, Inc., the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered that the June 4, 2020 judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York be vacated for not complying with the Second Circuit’s mandate, with judgment being entered for Patsy’s Brand and the case dismissed.

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Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Discriminatory Housing Ads–Vargas v. Facebook

Technology & Marketing Law Blog

This lawsuit alleges that Facebook is liable for Fair Housing Act discrimination purportedly enabled by its self-service advertising tools. The court grants Facebook’s motion to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint. I believe this case is now ready for a Ninth Circuit appeal, where anything could happen. Standing. “plaintiffs do not attempt to allege that housing was generally available in their desired markets – much less that housing Ads satisfying those criteria were being placed i

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3 Count: No Impact

Plagiarism Today

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: Google/Oracle Doesn’t Affect Warhol Fair-Use Ruling, 2nd Circ Says. First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has amended a previous decision to make it clear that the recent Oracle v. Google Supreme Court decision does not impact artistic cases.

Fair Use 130
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Leaseweb Must Share Personal Details of ‘Pirating’ Customers With Movie Companies

TorrentFreak

Hosting providers are generally seen as neutral intermediaries, but some copyright holders believe that these companies should bear more responsibility. This isn’t a new idea. Back in 2015, leaked documents from the Motion Picture Association revealed that the Hollywood group had considered taking legal action against a hosting provider. At the time it mentioned Leaseweb as an example.

Copyright 142
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In Win For Google, CAFC Holds Patentees May Not Bend Claim Terms to Fit Their Needs

IP Watchdog

On August 26, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, holding Google LLC did not infringe patents held by Data Engine Technologies LLC (DET). DET sued Google for infringing certain claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,590,259; 5,784,545; and 6,282,551 (the Tab Patents).

Art 134
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Towards the national transpositions of the DSM Directive: various techniques to. do as you please

The IPKat

Beach + sunbathing + copyright = the perfect summer As readers with an interest in EU copyright are well aware, EU Member States had time until 7 June to transpose the DSM Directive 2019/790 [Katposts here ] into their own national laws. With a few exceptions [see Communia tracker here ] , because of a number of reasons - ranging from COVID to the delayed Article 17 Commission's guidance [Katpost here ] to some important pending rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the m

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Sun Pharma v. Cipla: Madras HC Rejects COVID as an Excuse for Passing Off

SpicyIP

An image of a packet containing Cipla’s Duolin Repsule (Image from here ). We are pleased to bring you a guest post by Kedar Ganesh Dhargalkar. Kedar is a fourth year BLS LLB student at the Adv. Balasaheb Apte College of Law in Mumbai. Sun Pharma v. Cipla: Madras HC Rejects COVID as an Excuse for Passing Off. Kedar Ganesh Dhargalkar. In the recent case of Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. v.

Marketing 131
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ACE/MPA Target Pirate Sites Pulling in 1.3 Billion Visits Per Year, Including EZTV

TorrentFreak

Global entertainment coalition Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment is engaged in perhaps one of the most far-reaching anti-piracy operations the internet has ever seen. The group, which has the key Hollywood studios, Netflix, Amazon and dozens of major content creators as members, has carried out many highly-publicized takedowns. Streaming platforms, IPTV providers, file-hosting platforms and torrent-related entities have all been targeted but that is the tip of a very large iceberg.

Brands 142
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The Innovation Ecosystem Behind COVID Vaccines is Now Targeting HIV/AIDS

IP Watchdog

June marked the 40th anniversary of the first reported AIDS case. On the anniversary, UNAIDS released a strategy to end HIV/AIDS by 2030, a goal that seemed unthinkable over 40 years ago. Yet since 1981, the innovative scientific community has delivered a series of treatments that revolutionized the outlook for HIV/AIDS patients. Those early days of 1981 were not unlike what we experienced with coronavirus last spring.

Reporting 128
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Copyrightability of Software: The Next Big Case

Patently-O

by Dennis Crouch. The next big software copyright case is before the Federal Circuit in the form of SAS Institute, Inc. v. World Programming Limited , Docket No. 21-1542. The litigation has substantial parallels to Google v. Oracle , but might end up with a different outcome. In Google , the Supreme Court found fair-use but did not decide the issue of copyrightability.

Copyright 126
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Can You Patent an Automation? A Review of Relevant Cases

IP.com

It is possible to patent a process, which the USPTO defines as “inventions that consist of a series of steps or acts to be performed.” This definition encompasses business methods. The post Can You Patent an Automation? A Review of Relevant Cases appeared first on IP.com - IP Innovation and Analytics.

Patent 122
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Two DJ Music Piracy Cases Five Years Apart, Two Very Different Outcomes

TorrentFreak

Dutch anti-piracy group BREIN is at the forefront of the battle against unlicensed services in the Netherlands. In the last year alone, BREIN conducted 479 investigations which resulted in the shutdown of 466 illegal sites and services, including torrent and streaming sites, IPTV providers, and platforms that distribute music without an appropriate license.

Music 143
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The Federal Circuit Must Correct Texas Court’s Misapplication of Copyright Law in SAS Institute Appeal

IP Watchdog

SAS Institute is a software company in North Carolina. Founded in 1976, it employs thousands of people in the United States and thousands more around the world. World Programming, Ltd. (WPL) is a British company that decided to build a clone of SAS’s popular analytics software and, as several courts have found, broke the law to do it. After a decade of litigation across two continents and an unpaid multi-million-dollar judgment, the parties are once again in court.

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Delhi HC IP Division Rules: An Opportunity to Strengthen Procedural Framework

SpicyIP

We’re pleased to bring to you a guest post by Eva Bishwal. Eva is a Senior Associate at Fidus Law Chambers, a boutique IP law firm in Noida. IP Division Rules: An Opportunity to Strengthen Procedural Framework. Eva Bishwal. An image of a gate at the Delhi High Court. The abolition of the IPAB and the creation of the IP Division (‘IPD’) in the Delhi High Court have been extensively discussed here and here.

IP 119
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YouTube Infringement Tools Are All Foam and No Beer for Small Creators (Part 2)

Copyright Alliance

In Part 1 of this blog post, we reviewed several YouTube copyright infringement tools that are available to certain copyright owners. These tools included Content ID, Copyright Match, the Content […]. The post YouTube Infringement Tools Are All Foam and No Beer for Small Creators (Part 2) appeared first on Copyright Alliance.

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Filelinked Was Shut Down By ACE – Can Replacements Avoid The Same Fate?

TorrentFreak

With both Google and Amazon rejecting or banning piracy apps from their stores, Android and Fire TV users with a penchant for piracy need to sideload apps from third party sources. Sideloading isn’t particularly difficult but it is a fairly cumbersome process. However, apps like Filelinked provided a solution by indexing hundreds of apps stored outside official ecosystems while making them easy to install.

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CAFC Reverses Massive Jury Verdict for Juno and Sloan Kettering

IP Watchdog

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) today reversed a jury verdict for Juno Therapeutics and Sloan Kettering Institute for Cancer Research (Juno), wiping out a $1.2 billion judgment for the entities. The CAFC found that the jury’s verdict with respect to written description was not supported by substantial evidence. The case relates to U.S.