Years before I was a lawyer, I saw Vanilla Ice on The Tonight Show. Jay Leno asked whether his song, Ice Ice Baby (listen to seconds 8-24) sounds like David Bowie’s Under Pressure (listen to seconds 9-20). I’ve not seen a transcript of the interview, but my memory is that Vanilla (or Mr. Ice?) said … Read more
Robert Indiana, 86 this year, is an American artist most well known for his iconic pop art LOVE sculptures. He’s less well-known for losing the copyright in his work by failing to properly register it. The artist, born Robert Clark, changed his last name to Indiana (his home state) when he moved to New York … Read more
A trademark is the legal term for what is commonly known as a brand. It is a word, phrase, symbol or design (or any combination of these) that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. Examples of trademarks are FACEBOOK for social media services, MCDONALDS for restaurant … Read more
Copyright law protects the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. Copyright law does not protect facts or ideas. So the fact that “Toy Story 4 will be released by Disney in 2017″ can’t be owned by anyone. But an article reviewing the Toy Story franchise … Read more
I’ve compiled (and will periodically update) a list of on-line resources that you might find valuable if you want to educate yourself about trademark, copyright, publishing and related issues. Feel free to contact me with suggestions of additional resources to include. Trademark United States Patent and Trademark Office The Lanham Act (from LII at Cornell … Read more
