The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment states that private property “shall not be taken for public use, without just compensation.”[1] Intellectual property rights – patents, trademarks, copyrights, and other IP – have long been considered property rights. This belief, however, has been tested by the Supreme Court’s reluctance to specifically define IP as a …
Category: copyright
Collecting Royalties Indicative of Authorship, not Work for Hire
On August 21, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in an interesting example of what is deemed “work for hire,” as defined by the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §201(b), in Morricone Music Inc. v. Bixio Music Group Ltd..[1] Ennio Morricone is the late Italian composer of several musical film scores, which …
Constitution Day
Today is Constitution Day. On this day, September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution was signed thirty-nine Founding Fathers, ushering the birth of the United States. Several clauses in the Constitution have direct import to intellectual property. Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 is the Patent and Copyright Clause, which is the basis of U.S. patent …
SCOTUS Watch: Costs Recovered Limited as Specified in Copyright Act
In the second copyright case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on March 4, 2019, Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc.,[1] the high court dealt with the question of whether “full costs” is more than the costs set forth in either 28 U.S.C. §1821 or §1920. Both Oracle and Rimini Street are competitors in …
SCOTUS Watch: Registration Required Before Infringement Action
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a pair of copyright decisions that will affect copyright owners’ ability to sue and recover in federal court. The first, Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Sreet.com, LLC,[1] settles a split in the appellate circuits concerning when a copyright owner may sue for copyright infringement – …
No Digital First Sale Doctrine, per Second Circuit
Technology has always been a few light years ahead of the law, and when the law catches up, tech usually has moved on to the next big thing. So, because of the glacial pace in which case law does expand, which is an inverse relationship with tech, it sometimes creates problems on the technical aspects …
Government Shutdown Effect on IP Offices
At midnight on Friday, December 21, 2018, the U.S. government entered a partial shutdown, which means all non-essential federal departments will close operations until funding has been appropriated by Congress. This includes national parks, NASA, and federal agencies. Those exempt include airports and the U.S. Postal Service, which will continue normal service through Christmas Eve, …
SCOTUS Watch: Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in Copyright Cost Row
On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc.,[1] in order to resolve a split in the circuits related to prevailing copyright litigant’s awarding of “full costs,” and whether that means only taxable costs under 28 U.S.C. §1920 – court and witness fees, copying costs, expert …
Software Removing Metadata Not Enough Showing to “Conceal or Induce” Copyright Infringement
Technology is meant to make things easier or improve conditions in society. However, sometimes technology, in the form of software, can sometimes do errant things that can create issues later. So is the case with Stevens v. CoreLogic, Inc.,[1] decided by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 20, 2018. The Ninth …
“Au revoir” to California Resale Royalties Act, Says Ninth Circuit
In what will be a major case to shake up the art world, the nation’s only droit de suite statute has again been eviscerated as a federal appeals court has found the resale royalty right only applies to a narrow timeframe aspect of the statute. On July 6, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the …