Tag archives: copyright

Federal judge limits advertisement on social media in trade dress lawsuit

By Max Kellogg (US) on May 22, 2019 Posted in General

On April 10, 2019, a Texas federal judge granted Sparrow Barns & Events an emergency temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in a trade dress and copyright infringement case, preventing defendant Ruth Farm from advertising its venue rental business on social media and the internet. Sparrow Barns & Events, LLC v. Ruth Farm Inc., No. … Continue reading

Fore! An Interesting Copyright and Trademark Default Judgment

By Susan Ross (US) on April 26, 2019 Posted in Copyright

On March 15, 2019, a federal trial court judge ruled in favor of famous golfer Jack Nicklaus’ company in a case that may be of interest to copyright and trademark owners. (Nicklaus Cos. LLC. v. Bryan Hepler Golf LLC, No. CV-18-01748-PHX-ROS (D. Ariz. March 15, 2019) (2019 WL 1227198).) The case began in a way … Continue reading

Grumpy Cat back in court

By Stephanie Schmidt (US) on July 25, 2018 Posted in Copyright, Litigation, Trademark

We previously reported on Grumpy Cat Limited’s big win in a copyright and trademark suit. As a recap, Grumpy Cat—the social-media-famous grimacing feline, or rather the holding company owned by her “parents”—filed a lawsuit after the defendants went beyond the scope of a licensing agreement to market a variety of Grumpy Cat-themed coffee products. According … Continue reading

Exposed! Woman awarded $6.4m for explicit revenge photos including copyright breach

By Kerri Gevers (ZA) on May 17, 2018 Posted in Copyright

Four years after a Californian woman sued her ex-boyfriend for posting sexually explicit photographs and videos of her online, she was awarded USD $6.4 million in one the largest judgments of its kind. According to the New York Times, although the victim was successful, this case highlights the complexities of the law in this area … Continue reading

Social Media, Copyright & Photographs

By Susan Ross (US) on April 27, 2018 Posted in Copyright

Many social media sites and pages encourage people to post and share photos. This activity creates an issue where the owner of the photos has not given permission for that use, as a photographer alleged in a recent Fifth Circuit case Stross v. Redfin Corp., ___ Fed. Appx. ___ (5th Cir. Apr. 9, 2018) (2018 … Continue reading

Submissions Now Open For Artificial Intelligence Stakeholders: Canada’s Copyright Act Review

By Maya Medeiros and Jordana Sanft (CA) on April 24, 2018 Posted in Copyright

Social media depends on digital technology, and the Canadian government has begun a review of Canada’s Copyright Act with a view to keep the copyright framework current in light of digital technology. Written submissions are now being solicited from all Canadians on Canada’s Copyright Act, as the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology (“Committee”) … Continue reading

Grumpy Cat Almost Smiling Over Big Award

By Stephanie Schmidt (US) on March 14, 2018 Posted in Copyright, Litigation, Trademark

Grumpy Cat has a new reason to turn that frown upside-down. Though the cat is known for her sneer, she is (or rather, Grumpy Cat Limited and its/her owners are) sitting pretty on a recent jury award in California of over $700,000 for trademark and copyright infringement and breach of contract. (Grumpy Cat Ltd. … Continue reading

Opportunity for artificial intelligence stakeholders to shape the Canada Copyright Act

By Maya Medeiros and Jordana Sanft (CA) on February 6, 2018 Posted in Copyright

Social media depends on digital technology, and the Canadian government has begun a review of the Canada Copyright Act and provided an opportunity for public comment.… Continue reading

Me, Myself & ‘AI’

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on September 20, 2017 Posted in Copyright, Patent, Privacy

Human interactions with technology In the past few years, the use of social media has increased rapidly. A key feature of social media platforms and social media apps is the ability to interact with other people in ways that were not thought possible in previous generations. With the click of a button, someone from the … Continue reading

Legal chatbots: something for nothing?

By Jeff Pettit (US) on August 3, 2017 Posted in Copyright, General

In June, we introduced the topic of chatbots and highlighted some key risks and concerns associated with this growing area of technology. One business in particular, DoNotPay, made headlines recently by announcing that it would begin building legal chatbots for free. The claim? In a July 14, 2017, posting to the online publishing platform Medium, … Continue reading

The Battle for Copyright Protection in the Digital Era

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on July 13, 2017 Posted in Copyright

The age of the Internet poses many new challenges to those individuals seeking to protect and enforce their intellectual property rights online. As the Federal Court of Appeal in Canada recently stated: “Under the cloak of anonymity on the internet, some can illegally copy, download, and distribute the intellectual property of others, such as movies, … Continue reading

Car websites “scraped” but only slightly dented

By Brian Gray (CA) and Claude Brunet on April 18, 2017 Posted in Copyright

In Trader v CarGurus, 2017 ONSC 1841 (CanLII), the Ontario Court of Justice has opined on a number of points arising out of the 2012 copyright amendments introduced by the Copyright Modernization Act. The interesting points in the decision concern 1. making a work available to the public 2. fair dealing 3. when is framing … Continue reading

Liability for Hyperlinks: German Court Increases Responsibility of Website Operators

By Sven Jacobs (DE) on January 20, 2017 Posted in Copyright

The Regional Court of Hamburg recently applied for the first time the new decision by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the liability for hyperlinks and further increased the risks and responsibilities for social media website operators. The EU Court Decision The CJEU held in September 2016 that using a hyperlink … Continue reading

Social Media, Copyright, and Blockchain

By Susan Ross (US) on December 9, 2016 Posted in Copyright

Social media has changed how people and companies interact and has provided us with some technological innovations that have raised copyright issues. In an effort to keep our readers informed of some recent developments involving social media, we wanted to provide some background relating to some headlines combining social media, copyright, and blockchain, and we … Continue reading

Copyright Office to Decrease DMCA Agent Registration Fees by 94%

By Susan Ross (US) on November 29, 2016 Posted in Copyright

As of December 1, 2016, the U.S. Copyright Office will be decreasing the fees to register a “notice and takedown” agent to $6. Any website (including social media site) that accepts third party content may be interested in taking advantage of the “safe harbor” offered in the U.S., and those that have already registered an … Continue reading

Will reverse class actions facilitate online IP enforcement in Canada?

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on October 12, 2016 Posted in Copyright

While the internet has created ample opportunities for IP rights holders to exploit their intellectual property rights online, it also poses significant challenges relating to the protection of those same IP rights from would-be infringers. The internet’s global reach combined with the sophistication and anonymity of most online users has created an environment where it … Continue reading

Internet’s ‘Hide and Seek’ Battle Continues in Canada

By Daniel Daniele (CA) on May 18, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Litigation, Privacy

The anonymity of the Internet has posed many challenges to the protection of intellectual property rights. The sheer size of the population of online users and the millions of file-sharing programs and other social media outlets that exist have left IP rights holders struggling to protect their property and goodwill in the digital era. For … Continue reading

Authentication on social media platforms

By Karen Sie (CA) on March 7, 2016 Posted in Fraud, Trademark

Engaging with customers online is quickly becoming the norm as consumers increasingly use social media to ask questions, seek customer service, and participate in dialogue with a business or their brand. The use of social media to deliver customer service allows businesses to be at the forefront of our digital age. That said, businesses could … Continue reading

Social Media & IP Enforceability

By Brian Chau (CA) and Christopher Hunter on February 29, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Patent, Trademark

Social media channels represent an exciting medium to reach out to the public and potential collaborators. Social media can also play an important role in helping generate positive buzz for organizations seeking to develop a market for their products or services. For example, many of today’s companies gauge the depth of market interest in their … Continue reading