Have You Ever Paid Royalties for Singing “Happy Birthday”?
At least if you paid them to Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., good news: you might be getting that money back. Of course, this is probably much better news for your lawyers, but still.
IP: Copyright
Plaintiff: Disney Promised to Help Me Build an X-Wing. Court: No It Didn’t
Plaintiff’s complaint did everything but state a claim for relief, the judge decided.
Copyright Office Weighs in on Monkey Pictures
In the draft of its new “Compendium,” the U.S. Copyright Office has stated that it will not register works created by animals. The “human authorship” requirement isn’t new, but the specific example of “[a] photograph taken by a monkey” is:…
Fight Continues Over Right to Monkey Selfie
It’s not looking so good for the monkey.
Ninth Circuit: The Shape of a Hookah Can’t Be Copyrighted
O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge: We must decide whether the shape of a hookah water container is entitled to copyright protection. That is (minus the footnote explaining what a "hookah" is) the first paragraph of today's decision by the U.S….
Here Come the Other “Happy Birthday” Lawsuits
Here we go: according to a press release I just got, two more plaintiffs have filed "Happy Birthday" lawsuits—not meaning that they sued somebody on his or her birthday but they are jumping into the litigation over whether "Happy Birthday…
Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Here’s a Copyright Lawsuit, Happy Birthday to You
I don't know that I'd call this "a lawsuit for the ages," like the New York Times does. But that's mainly because around here that title is reserved for the four-year struggle over a $65 million legal claim that the plaintiff called a…
Judge Orders Prenda Law Group Beamed Out Into Space
For full coverage of the Prenda Law debacle, let me refer you to Popehat, where Ken has been following it closely for a while now and has written many excellent posts on the saga (with help from, among others, Cathy Gellis). As a…
What Do You Call An Album Released Solely to Extend Copyright Protection?
It’s only sort of a trick question.
Ecce las Velas (Behold the Candles)
Following up on yesterday's post about the lady who painted over Jesus and now wants royalties—according to a Reddit post, these are currently on sale in Los Angeles: Looks like Ms. Jiménez (or the artist's heirs, or both) may need…