Judge Rules News Agencies Can’t Use Twitter Photos Without Permission In a landmark social media law case, a Federal judge in New York ruled this week that news agencies can’t publish photos found on Twitter without the photographer’s permission. Neither the fact that the photos were certainly newsworthy – they portrayed images of the devastating earthquake in Haiti – nor that Twitter allows anyone to reproduce the photos (via re-Tweeting) were enough to overcome the photographer’s rights under copyright law.
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Keep it Legal Blog
Alicia Keys Sued for Copyright Infringement
January 10, 2013
Alicia Keys Sued for Copyright Infringement Alicia Keys and her record company, Sony Music Entertainment, are being sued for copyright infringement by the writer of the song “Hey There Lonely Girl” over a simple lyric phrase. Alicia Keys’ latest single, “Girl On Fire,” from her album, Girl on Fire, may not sound much like Earl Shuman and Leon Carr’s “Hey There Lonely Girl.” (You can listen to them here: “Girl on Fire” and here: “Hey There Lonely Girl“). Given the significance differences between the recordings, Mr. Shurman’s concern is limited to the following phrase from “Girl On Fire”: “Nobody knows…
Apple Registers Startup Sound as a Trademark
January 3, 2013
Apple Registers Startup Sound as a Trademark Apple recently filed a trademark application to protect their computers’ startup sound. The application was approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. (Click here to see Apple’s USPTO registration.) How can a sound be a “mark?”
Crowdfunding: SEC to Miss Deadline for JOBS Act Rules
December 27, 2012
Crowdfunding: SEC to Miss Deadline for JOBS Act Rules My readers will recall that back in May 2012, I wrote about the JOBS Act and its revolutionary crowdfunding provisions. This new law promises to make a new source of funding available to startups and potentially create whole new industries. Unfortunately, this can’t happen until the rules are laid down, and it looks like the SEC is not going to meet its legally-mandated deadline.
