Why Prince Didn’t Leave a Will

Why Prince Didn’t Leave a Will

“Why didn’t Prince leave a will?” everyone and their mothers seemed to be asking. It’s a reasonable question, but because the subject was Prince, it appeared that people were looking for an answer that was unique or even supernatural. The truth is, we’ll never know why Prince didn’t have a will. I’m not a trust and estates attorney, but even if I was, it wouldn’t matter, because I don’t think the answer is all that extraordinary. 

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Copyright Versus Trademark: What’s the Difference?

A few weeks ago, Taylor Swift (yes, her again) filed for trademark protection (again) for various catchphrases related to her latest album, 1989, such as “This Sick Beat” and “Swiftmas.” Even though musicians do this all the time for merchandising purposes, for some reason it’s particularly newsworthy when Swift does it. But what grabbed my attention this time wasn’t the inexplicable backlash she got (if Ed Sheeran had done it, would people have been so quick to judge?), but the factually inaccurate headlines that went along with it.

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Copyright's Crazy Couple of Weeks: Happy Birthdays, Batmobiles, and Dancing Babies, Oh My!

Between the migrant crisis in Europe, Congress' inevitable rush towards a government shutdown, and all things Pope, it's been a news-heavy couple of weeks. The world of copyright law has been equally busy; in the span of ten days, federal courts in California unveiled three headline-grabbing opinions, some of which have shaken copyright to its very core.

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When Politicians Use Music Without Permission It’s Not a Copyright Issue, It’s a Trademark Issue (But It Doesn’t Matter Anyway)

Do you remember the time Donald Trump played “It’s The End of the World as We Know It” at a campaign rally and REM told him not to use their music "for your moronic charade of a campaign?" Or that time John McCain used “Running on Empty” in a TV ad bashing Obama and Jackson Browne sued him? Or that time Rand Paul used “Tom Sawyer” during his Senate run and Rush said that it was obvious Paul “hates women and brown people?"* It seems like every time there’s an election, you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a band upset at a politician for using its music. And with a year left before the general election, it’ll happen a few more times at least.

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Why Experts Are Necessary

Why Experts Are Necessary

And that’s why we have experts testify, isn’t it? Because two reasonable lay persons can come to different conclusions about a thing, and that without expert testimony, the issue would be unresolvable? According to the Rules of Evidence Advisory Committee,”[a]n intelligent evaluation of facts is often difficult or impossible without the application of some scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge."

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