Intellectual Property 101 Just don’t do it

There is a lot of access to other people’s information over the Internet about other people’s property. Society protects their work by the use of copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets. However,  people still try to attempt to steal the intellectual property that is not theirs. I learned a lot about this by listening to the Entertainment Law Update Podcast.

When are people going to learn to “Just don’t do it”? People are just waiting for you to try to infringe on their companies, business, and invention because they either feel betrayed or they are looking for a huge pay check. I was listening to one podcast about the movie Hangover 2 where one of the actors in the film has a tattoo that looks identical to Mike Tyson’s tattoo, not knowing that the artist that created that tattoo on Mike’s face had the design copyrighted because it’s his original work. The tattoo artist’s lawyers were on the producers back before you can say, “punch out”.

Then we have the pirates such as Joel Tenenbaum an individual who downloaded one too many songs for free. The record companies sued him for whopping 675k, which is now reduced to $67, 500 (that’s still a lot of money if you ask me).

But the story also goes on the other end as well. On another podcast, they spoke about John Elway. He is trying to get a restaurant to change their name. What is the name of the restaurant now?  It’s called Elway’s. Unfortunately for the all-star quarterback there’s nothing he can do but send him kind letters asking them to change.

The only real problem in my opinion is we never saw not one of these court cases go all the way to judgment. One of the parties always ends up settling. This keeps a real judgment off of the dockets for us to go by. Or they just get dismissed. Either way, I don’t have to wait to see what happens to know what happens. I will be sure to safeguard my company with the necessary protection and also govern my company with an iron fist when it comes to my intellectual property.

Source: EntertainmentLawUpdate.com

Podcasts http://feeds2.feedburner.com/entertainmentlawupdate

Episode 17:  Can Kanye write songs 140 characters at a time?

Episode 21 – Tough Cookies and Heart Attacks

Entertainment Law Update – Episode 9

Be Careful How You Market Your Artists and Your Entertainment Business

     In today’s entertainment society one can say that it seems like were running out of ideas or ways that we are able to become creative. Every time you make a move somebody is going to court claiming, “they thought of that first” or “where’s my money for that move”.

     Copyright infringement and trademark acquisition are two of the most challenging issues that entertainment artists and companies face today. For example, artists can have similar sounds with different chords such as the Joe Satriani vs. Cold Play case. Where Joe claimed that Cold Play used his song, “If I Could Fly” without permission, which ended in a settlement for Joe. Artistic concepts, and ideas in today’s entertainment world are extremely claustrophobic when it comes to originality and the use of the work.

    Fox faced being sued by Scholastic Entertainment because Fox placed one of SE’s shows on another Fox station, which SE felt was breach of contract. It wasn’t until they found out that they were being paid by a third party as well that SE attempted to sue Fox for copyright infringement.  SE did lose this battle and appealed it, but they did not renew their contract with Fox.

     In regards to today’s trademarks, the battle is very similar. Today Subway continues to fight to trademark the word “footlong” for their company. If they win the trademark battle no other restaurant in the nation will not be able to market the word “footlong” for their subs (or anything now that I think about it).  The problem is that Subway is already issuing Cease and Desist order for other restaurant chains. And the restaurant owners don’t like it. Now they are trying to sue Subway claiming that the word footlong is a general word in the English Dictionary and can be used in any advertisement. Although Subway is not an entertainment company other Entertainment companies exercise the same practice today. For example, John Witherspoon trademarked the phrase “Bang, Bang, Bang”, which is known from the Movie “Boomerang”.

    The American Humane Association threatened and was seeking legal action against the people that made the Grammy Winning Film, The Kings Speech. The line, “No animals were harmed during the production of this film” was used as a disclaimer. Although this movie was produced overseas, it was sold at the American Box Office. Since the producers never asked for rights (or certification mark) to use the phrase the AHA was coming after them.

     The moral to this post is. No matter if you make lyrics to a song, have a new business idea or have a catchy phrase be sure to trademark and copyright your work or idea. In today’s society, people will try (and can) sue you if they feel that you stole or infringed on their rights as an artists or entrepreneur. Or if your not protected, they can steal your work, idea and rights and use them against you. The day of just having a firm handshake to seal the deal is over. Now the handshake is accompanied by an agreement, contract, or a legal document that gives you the immunity to be creative, own your ideas, and receive royalties for your efforts or reputation.

Sources:

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1484106.html

http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/2011/03/episode-18-of-beauty-queens-and-footlong-sandwiches/

http://andyontheroad.wordpress.com/2009/09/13/joe-satriani-v-coldplay-settles/

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-20031887-504083.html