Features

To Embed, or Not to Embed, that is the Question
Would Shakespeare Post Hamlet on Instagram in 2020? While the sound distracting you hear from this article may well be William Shakespeare rapidly turning in his grave like the Mad Hatter Teacup Ride at Disneyworld, recent legal and procedural developments associated with the ubiquitous Instagram social media site have created significant practical and legal risks for both copyright owners and account holders that would have even vexed the Bard himself.
Features

Legal Issues and Monetization Strategies In a Quarantine-Streaming Music World
Part One of a Two Part Article While the livestreaming of music performances is not an entirely new phenomenon, the COVID crisis has transformed the live performance landscape, compelling artists from around the world to reach their fanbase by producing "quarantine streams," in which they livestream their sets on social media platforms. Unsurprisingly many questions have arisen.
Features

Fair Use Applied to Embedded Photograph
The extremely flexible character of social media has required equal flexibility in courts' intellectual property analysis. Happily, under U.S. copyright law, that kind of flexibility is possible.
Features

What 11th Circuit Ruled in Copyright Suit Over Netflix's Narcos Series
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled in favor of Netflix in finding that one of its shows didn't infringe the copyright of a Colombian journalist who wrote a memoir about her affair with drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and the rise of the Colombian drug trade.
Features

Fifth Circuit's Decision in Sampling Case Considers Automatic Liability Controversy
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of internationally successful hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in a music sampling suit brought against them by New Orleans jazz musician Paul Batiste.
Features

'Asserted Truths' Doctrine Used to Decide Jersey Boys Copyright Dispute
In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit held that materials taken from an autobiography of Tommy DeVito — an original member of The Four Seasons music group — and used in the Broadway musical Jersey Boys depicting the band's history and hits, comprised facts and other noncopyrightable expression.
Features

To Embed, or Not to Embed, that is the Question
Would Shakespeare Post Hamlet on Instagram in 2020? Recent legal and procedural developments associated with the ubiquitous Instagram social media site have created significant practical and legal risks for both copyright owners and account holders.
Features

Are Rule 12(b)(6) Dismissals In Copyright Infringement Lawsuits In Danger?
Until recently, the Second and Ninth Circuits have both been receptive to dismissals under Rule 12(b)(6) if the court determines the plaintiff cannot plausibly state a claim of copyright infringement because the two works are not substantial similar. However, a pair of recent "unpublished" Ninth Circuit reversals involving prominent motion pictures stand in contrast to a recent Second Circuit decision affirming such a dismissal.
Features

In Decision of First Impression, Court Decides 'Gap Grants' Can Be Terminated Under §203 of U.S. Copyright Act
In the 1976 Copyright Act, Congress inserted a termination right for authors or their successors for pre-January 1, 1978, assignments of copyrighted works. However, the legislators didn't directly address a key issue: how to determine termination rights for what are known as "gap grant" works — that is, those created post-1977 under copyright assignments made before then.
Features

FL Federal Court Rules 'Despacito' Doesn't Infringe on 'Despasito'
Federal Judge Kathleen Williams recently analyzed the hit song "Despacito" in a copyright lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, when she found its writers had not copied an earlier Spanish song with the same name.
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