Strike 3 v. John Doe is a copyright infringement case that began in 2018 in the District Court of the District of Columbia. It concerned infringement of Strike 3’s intellectual property taking place over the BitTorrent file-sharing network. Using geolocation technology, Strike 3 identified the IP addresses of the infringers and petitioned for a subpoena…
Once upon a time, cheerful New York commuters’ eyes brightened when their trains approached a certain section of track. Out of the rust and gravel a vast tableau of incredibly detailed aerosol art stood out. It was called 5Pointz, and it was never meant to last forever — but that did not mean it was…
In City of New York v. Blue Rage Inc, a mom-and-pop clothing store was sued for trademark violations by the City of New York. The Cop Shop, located in Massapequa, Long Island, is the culmination of former transit policeman Salvatore Piccolo’s dream to serve the law enforcement community even in retirement. In addition to providing regulation…
The first thing you’re likely to notice about Sony Music and Entertainment, et al. v. Cox Communications, Inc. et al. is the sheer number of corporate plaintiffs — 53 in total. They’re all members of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), who joined in suing internet service provider Cox Communications for copyright infringement. After filing in…
How do you anger a judge? First, lie to her about why you missed a court date. Then, accuse her of “usurpation of judicial authority” or “a breach of judicial decorum.” That language was among many bad decisions made by attorney Richard Liebowitz in a copyright infringement case over which the Hon. Cathy Seibel in the Southern…
At the end of January, the Northern District of California waded into the dangerous and complicated waters of software copyright infringement in Oracle v. Hewlett Packard. The case concerned software patches, or updates, licensed by Oracle and installed by Hewlett Packard, sometimes through a support services company called Terix. Before this suit, Oracle and Terix knew…
In Parker v. Winwood, musician Steve Winwood was accused of copyright infringement for allegedly copying the bass line of “Ain’t That A Lot Of Love” — written by Willa Dean Parker and Homer Banks in 1965 — for his song, “Gimme Some Lovin’,” written in 1966. 51 years later, Willa Dean Parker and the widow of…
Taylor Swift is known for aggressively protecting her intellectual property as a songwriter, but in Hall v. Swift she found herself on the defensive. Pop artists Sean Hall and Nathan Butler alleged Swift infringed on the lyrics to their best-known song, “Playas Gon’ Play,” in her song, “Shake It Off.” Hall and Butler: “Playas, they gonna play,…
In McDermott v. Monday Monday, the Southern District of New York reiterated what it means to be a copyright troll — and the trouble inherent in essentially seeking to “clear one’s name”, whether by bringing a defamation claim or asking a judge to re-phrase something they’ve written. The plaintiff in this case was represented by attorney…
Cervejaria Petropolis SA v. Ambev S.A. comes our way from the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C., via the TTAB. In this case, Ambev had applied to the USPTO for registration of the mark FUSION, but was barred by the registration of the appellant, Cervejaria Petropolis (CP) for the same mark. CP had inherited the FUSION…