Acclaimed photographer Carol Highsmith has filed a Federal lawsuit alleging violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against Getty Images and other parties for their attempt to charge her and others for the use of her own photos. Ms. Highsmith has been praised by the Library of Congress for her donation of thousands and thousands […]
Tag: Copyright
On Wednesday, a federal judge said the macaque who famously snapped a picture of himself cannot be declared the owner of the image’s copyright. The photo in question was taken in 2011 on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, with a camera owned by nature photographer David Slater. But Slater didn’t trip the shutter: the macaque […]
Two years ago I reported here on a lawsuit filed by NY filmmaker Jennifer Nelson trying to strike Warner Music’s copyright in the song “Happy Birthday.” She had been filming a documentary about the song and was charged $1,500. by Warner to use the song in her film. She then filed her suit seeking return […]
Filmmaker Joss Whedon is being sued for $10 million by a writer who claims they stole his idea for the hit horror film Cabin in the Woods. Writer Peter Gallagher has filed the lawsuit against the Avengers director and his co-writer/director Drew Goddard. In his lawsuit filed this week in Federal Court in California, the […]
The Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously overturned a lower court’s permanent protective order against a Columbus, Georgia businessman named Matthew Chan; Chan had been hit with the order back in 2013 when a woman named Linda Ellis claimed she feared for her safety after reading 9 posts on Chan’s website, called ExtortionLetterInfo.com (“ELI”). [Disclaimer: Since […]
Yesterday a federal jury awarded the Estate of Marvin Gaye $7.3 Million finding that the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, songwriters of the hit song “Blurred Lines,” had infringed on the Marvin Gaye song “Got to Give it Up.” Even though the judge rejected the Gaye family’s most dangerous argument – – that a song’s […]
To quote Kenny Rogers, “You gotta know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run.” Emergy drink company Monster should have heeded Kenny’s advice in the lawsuit brought by the great and influential rap group Beastie Boys against the company. A court in […]
A US Federal judge has ruled that iconic literary character Sherlock Holmes and the most familiar elements of his stories are in the public domain. But what’s as important is that in a strongly worded opinion the court criticized the Arthur Conan Doyle estate for its troll-like practices. It’s the third time an American judge has […]
The latest celebrity photo scandal does not involve nudity just stupidity. Svitlana Sangary is a Los Angeles-based attorney whose solo practice focuses on business litigation according to her website. A client who had a dispute with her reproted her to the California State Bar for allegedly photoshopping herself into over 50 pictures with A-list celebrities […]