I was a full-time musician before law school, but Standing on the Horizon is the first album as a band leader (playing tenor sax, soprano sax and bass clarinet) consisting of my own compositions played with four extraordinary, Grammy-nominated and award-winning musicians. In early October 2023, the album was released on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora and…
It’s 2022, but IP litigants can still learn from the spirit of that groundbreaking Supreme Court case that gave us the Miranda rights. Surprisingly, anything you say to the USPTO can and will be used against you in a copyright infringement case — even if it is apparently unrelated to your trademark application. Brought before the…
I usually write about one case at a time, but the three cases we brought on behalf of major, Israeli entertainment producers against three different U.S. websites were deemed “related” early in the process of the lawsuits we commenced in December 2021. Our plaintiff clients included one of the largest movie producers; the only satellite…
The Eastern District of Virginia recently decided on an interesting case called Universal Music Group v. Kurbanov. The defendant, in this case, is a Russian citizen, which becomes important later on. What’s interesting about this case is the magnitude of both the foolishness of the defendant, and of the award for damages. It wasn’t a…
In Cat and Dogma v. Target Corporation, the Western District of Texas weighed claims of copyright infringement. At issue was a design for which Cat and Dogma (“Dogma”) had secured a copyright. The design consisted of the words, “I love you,” in a font that was script and fanciful. Dogma alleged that Target, in making…
On this blog, I typically write about decisions and motions involving third parties. But every once in a while, tooting your own horn is appropriate. Here’s how we won $19 million for our client in January 2022. This case arose out of a construction loan for an historic hotel in Miami. Under the management of…
Zahedi v. Miramax, LLC. is an interesting case from the Central District of California. The decision came out of dueling motions for summary judgment: Miramax trying to dismiss the underlying complaint based on the statute of limitations; and photographer Firooz Zahedi seeking affirmation of his copyright ownership as well as the dismissal of the statute of…
The bigger picture was not on display when Samuel Kerson completed two murals at the University of Vermont Law School (VLS). Titled “Slavery” and “Liberation,” the works were immediately controversial. Throughout the murals’ tenure, students complained about the caricature-like depiction of the victims of slavery. After the murder of George Floyd, the law school began…
In Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. v. Goldsmith, the Second Circuit sought to clarify our understanding of fair use, and especially transformative use of photos of the rockstar Prince, as interpreted (or copied) by Andy Warhol. The appellate court reversed a decision rendered by the Southern District of New York. The Andy…
Just when the world thought that we had moved past the peanut butter wars, another skirmish flared up in the Northern District of Ohio, East Division. In J.M. Smucker Company v. Hormel Food Corporation, the makers of JIF and SKIPPY peanut butter, respectively, jousted over trade dress. Smucker maintained that Hormel’s filing of a trademark…