U.S. News is reporting that a campaign video posted on Mitt Romney’s website has been taken down due to an alleged copyright violation. The ad contained clips of President Obama’s performance of the Al Green song “Let’s Stay Together.” As you can see from that link, the President’s original performance is still available on YouTube (as of the publication of this post, at least). Apparently, BMG Rights Management (one would assume this is the copyright owner of the underlying musical composition) sent a takedown notice demanding that the video be pulled. The U.S. News story states that “The Romney campaign…
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San Diego Comic-Con Panel Preview
July 10, 2012
San Diego Comic-Con Panel Preview For the 5th year in a row, I will have the opportunity to participate in a panel during the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con (or, if you insist, Comic-Con International). The panel will be moderated, as always, by Michael Lovitz, and the panelists will include David Branfman and Professor Marc Greenberg. Please join us on Saturday, July 14, 2012 from 10:30am to noon in Room 11AB.
SUPER HEROES: Marvel & DC’s Joint Trademark
July 5, 2012
SUPER HEROES: Marvel & DC’s Joint Trademark In 2006, Dan Taylor, the creator of the critically acclaimed Super Hero Happy Hour comic, announced that he had to change the name of his comic. The reason behind the change? Taylor had received a cease and desist letter from trademark attorneys for both DC and Marvel Comics, claiming they jointly owned the trademark SUPER HEROES and any variations of the word. It turns out that DC and Marvel own U.S. trademark registrations for the mark SUPER HEROES for toys (US Reg. No. 1140452 – Oct. 14, 1980) and comic books…
Black Keys Sue Pizza Hut for Song Theft
June 28, 2012
Black Keys Sue Pizza Hut for Song Theft The Black Keys, a duo from the rock mecca of Akron, Ohio, have sued Pizza Hut for copyright infringement. The suit concerns this Pizza Hut commercial (warning: lousy audio), which allegedly contains portions of their single “Gold on the Ceiling.” Based on what I’ve been able to hear of the Pizza Hut commercial, it’s not entirely clear if the ‘Hut (people call it that, right?) uses the actual recording or if they just hired a band to make a reasonable facsimile of “Gold.” Either way, it’s probably not good news for Yum!…
