Intellectual Property Law

Afternoon Briefs: Rappers awarded $2.8M over Katy Perry song; lawyer killed outside courthouse by pickup truck

• Federal jurors in Los Angeles have awarded $2.78 million to Christian rap artists in a copyright suit against Katy Perry and others. The suit claimed that a repetitive musical rhythm in Perry’s song “Dark Horse” infringed the copyright for the Christian song “Joyful Noise.” Perry herself is responsible for…

Aug 2, 2019 4:07 PM CDT

3rd Circuit rules maker of banana costume is entitled to ‘fruits of its intellectual labor’

A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that the maker of a full-body banana costume was entitled to an injunction against a rival company that made a look-alike garment.

Aug 2, 2019 9:54 AM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Bail reform ‘as big as Brown v. Board of Education;’ how some rich kids get college aid

• Commissioners in Harris County, Texas, have agreed to reform a cash bail system that had kept many indigent misdemeanor defendants in jail pending trial. A federal appeals court had ruled last year that the bail system was unconstitutional because it mostly relied on set amounts. As a result of…

Jul 31, 2019 4:33 PM CDT

Knife-wielding man is shot outside LA courthouse amid infringement case against Katy Perry

A courthouse security officer shot and wounded a man wielding a knife outside the federal courthouse in Los Angeles on Tuesday as testimony continued in a trial that contends that Katy Perry’s 2013 song “Dark Horse” improperly borrowed from a 2008 Christian hip-hop song. The man was shot in the…

Jul 24, 2019 11:22 AM CDT

Founder of The Slants talks about the band’s free-speech fight

When Simon Tam booked the first gig for The Slants, the band did not technically have any other members yet. Eleven years later, the all-Asian American band faced a larger obstacle: Winning a free-speech case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jul 24, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

In patent cases, imposing attorney fees will ‘hamper equal access to justice,’ ABA says

In an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, the ABA says: “Imposing governmental attorneys’ fees on patent applicants who choose civil actions under [the law] will hamper equal access to justice and chill the assertion of meritorious claims.” The Supreme Court is considering in Peter v.…

Jul 23, 2019 12:52 PM CDT

Judge sanctions controversial copyright lawyer, notes ‘growing body of law’ on when to punish him

A federal judge in New York has ordered a litigious copyright lawyer to pay attorney fees of $8,745 as a sanction for failing to comply with orders for a court appearance and mediation. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York began his July 10 sanctions…

Jul 11, 2019 12:37 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: 4th Circuit tosses emoluments suit; health insurance mandate on shaky ground

• A federal appeals court has tossed a case contending that President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution’s ban on presidents accepting emoluments from foreign states. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, unanimously ruled that the state of Maryland and Washington, D.C., had no standing to…

Jul 10, 2019 4:46 PM CDT

Afternoon Briefs: Bar associations battle over trademark; New Jersey judge rebuked over rape case

• Even though the Association of Trial Lawyers of America changed its name to the American Association for Justice in 2006, the Washington, D.C.-based bar association is suing the California-based Association of American Trial Lawyers for trademark infringement and unfair competition. The suit says the American Association for Justice sent…

Jul 3, 2019 4:27 PM CDT

Lawyers, songs and money: Music that changed the law

Some songs or albums move the law. A band or artist will be involved in a lawsuit so groundbreaking and important that it will set a precedent, either enshrined in law or otherwise binding future generations.

Jul 1, 2019 12:05 AM CDT

SCOTUS agrees to decide whether annotated state laws can be copyrighted

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether annotations of the Georgia state code can be copyrighted. The court agreed to decide Georgia’s appeal in its suit for copyright infringement against open law advocate Carl Malamud. Malamud had bought and scanned 186 printed volumes of Georgia’s annotated code and…

Jun 24, 2019 1:53 PM CDT

Ban on scandalous trademarks violates First Amendment, Supreme Court rules

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Lanham Act's ban on immoral or scandalous trademarks violates the First Amendment because it disfavors certain ideas.

Jun 24, 2019 9:31 AM CDT

Lawyer who pleaded guilty in ‘wrecking ball’ scheme to sue porn downloaders gets prison sentence

A federal judge in Minneapolis scolded a suspended lawyer for his abuse of trust as she sentenced him Friday to 14 years in prison for a scheme to sue porn downloaders. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen said the former Prenda Law lawyer Paul Hansmeier had taken advantage of the courts,…

Jun 17, 2019 9:11 AM CDT

Pirating files not so bad, with one exception, according to survey of Harvard LLM students

Researchers who surveyed students in Harvard Law School’s LLM program on the ethics of file sharing have concluded that lawyers generally perceive the practice as ethically acceptable.

Jun 11, 2019 11:10 AM CDT

Bud Light ads can’t mention rival beers and corn syrup without these qualifying words

A federal judge in Madison, Wisconsin, is barring Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light, from running advertisements that fail to give context to its ad claims about rival MillerCoors’ Miller Lite and Coors Light using corn syrup in brewing its beers. U.S. District Judge William Conley partly granted a preliminary…

May 29, 2019 3:08 PM CDT