Copyright Law

Harvard Prof Counsel in RIAA Case Ordered to Show Cause

A judge told Harvard University law professor Charles Nesson that he has until Thursday to explain why he should not be sanctioned for his “blatant disregard” of her court orders. Nesson is representing Joel Tenenbaum pro bono in the second file-sharing lawsuit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America.…

Jul 7, 2009 10:14 PM CDT

Music Industry Wants File-Sharer Barred from Downloading

Lawyers for the Recording Industry Association of America want a federal judge to bar Jammie Thomas-Rasset—who was ordered last month to pay $1.92 million in damages for sharing 24 music files online—from downloading music and to destroy all of the music files she has downloaded. RIAA attorney Timothy Reynolds wrote…

Jul 6, 2009 9:38 PM CDT

RIAA Wants Harvard Prof to Take Case Recordings Off the Web

The Recording Industry Association of America says that Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson is violating court orders and privacy laws by posting recordings of pretrial hearings and depositions to his blog and to the Berkman Center for Internet and Society website. Wired’s Threat Level blog provides links to examples of…

Jul 6, 2009 8:25 PM CDT

Google Books Settlement May Violate Antitrust Law, DOJ Contends

A pending settlement between Google Inc. and groups representing authors and publishers could violate antitrust law, the U.S. Department of Justice says in a letter to the federal judge in the Southern District of New York who is overseeing the case. Although the DOJ has made no finding that antitrust…

Jul 2, 2009 9:33 PM CDT

‘Catcher’ Ruling Will Discourage Other Would-Be Parodies, Lawyer Says

A federal judge has enjoined publication of a sequel to The Catcher in the Rye, saying the new book is an unauthorized infringement of the copyright held by the original novel’s author, J.D. Salinger. U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts of Manhattan issued the injunction yesterday, rejecting claims that the new…

Jul 2, 2009 1:42 PM CDT

Music Downloader Owes Record Cos. $1.9M, Jury Says

A federal jury in Minneapolis returned a verdict Thursday against a 32-year-old mother of four, saying she owes record companies an astounding $1.92 million for illegally sharing music on the Internet. Jammie Thomas-Rasset would have to pay $80,000 for each of the 24 songs she shared on the Net if…

Jun 19, 2009 1:33 PM CDT

Judge Axes Grad Student’s Counterclaim for ‘Abuse of Process’ in RIAA Case

An attempt by a Boston University graduate student who is a defendant in a high-profile music downloading case to turn the tables on the Recording Industry Association of America has been blocked by the federal judge overseeing the case. In a ruling yesterday, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner rejected defendant…

Jun 16, 2009 10:01 PM CDT

J.D. Salinger Sues Over Sequel, ‘a Rip-off, Pure and Simple’

Holden Caufield says in the teenage classic The Catcher in the Rye that he would love to call his favorite authors for a chat—people like Isak Dinesen or maybe Ring Lardner. The reclusive author of the novel, J.D. Salinger, doesn’t share those good feelings for the writer of a book…

Jun 2, 2009 6:40 PM CDT

Social Studies

In February, social networking behemoth Facebook announced changes to its terms of service. The highly publicized dustup that followed was much like most others: one part misinterpretation, one part overreaction and one part grain of truth.

Jun 2, 2009 3:50 AM CDT

Judge Appoints Lawsuit Guardian Due to Client’s ‘Irrational Hostility’ to Lawyer

A federal district judge in Washington, D.C., has appointed a guardian to oversee a plaintiff’s interests in a more than decade-old copyright case, due to what he has described as her “paranoid outbursts” and “irrational hostility” to her own lawyer. Attorney Nathan Lewin’s request for a guardian ad litem was…

May 29, 2009 11:54 PM CDT

Woody Allen Settles Billboard Lawsuit Against American Apparel for $5M

A clothing company known for its racy advertising and aggressive litigation tactics has agreed to settle for $5 million a lawsuit by Woody Allen over its alleged unauthorized use of his image in a billboard campaign and Internet advertising. But Dov Charney, the founder and chief executive of American Apparel,…

May 18, 2009 5:52 PM CDT

Web Case Losers Launch DDO$ Attack: Pay $3.75M Fine to Law Firm in Pennies

Updated: After their recent conviction in a criminal copyright prosecution in Sweden, owners of a well-known file-sharing website have reportedly come up with a plan to pay back a law firm that represented the music industry at trial in the Pirate Bay-related case. “Either devilishly clever or absolutely boneheaded,” writes…

May 13, 2009 10:00 PM CDT

Woody Allen’s Reputation Isn’t Worth $10M, American Apparel Argues

A clothing manufacturer known for its edgy advertising and aggressive litigation tactics is now taking on Woody Allen. Sued by the director and actor for $10 million for allegedly using his image without permission on billboards and in an Internet advertising campaign, American Apparel Inc. contends that Allen’s image isn’t…

May 5, 2009 5:34 PM CDT

Hope for Copyright

The now ubiquitous Barack Obama Hope poster may have inspired millions in last fall’s presidential election, but it also has inspired a fierce debate among lawyers about the limits of copyright protection.

May 2, 2009 3:50 AM CDT

Web Advocacy Group & BluWiki Sue Apple Over Chat Board Shutdown Demand

In an effort to enforce its iTunes copyright, Apple Inc. threatened last year to sue BluWiki.com if the website didn’t remove from its discussion board a project called iPodhash. The project focused on how one might retrofit iPods and iPhones with open-source software allowing them to work without iTunes. BluWiki…

Apr 28, 2009 6:37 PM CDT