Last week, graffiti artist Joseph Tierney, also known as Rime, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against fashion designer Jeremy Scott and his house Moschino for that exact infraction. Moschino took Rime’s design entitled “Vandal Eyes" and placed it one a dress, recently modeled by Gigi Hadid at the Met Gala (a sentence I never would’ve understood 10 years ago).
Read MoreAn "orphan work" is a work of art whose owner is not known and not findable, thus making licensing or purchasing of the rights impossible. The new Copyright Act will ostensibly 1) encourage artists to register their works to avoid orphaning, thus decreasing monetary recovery if the work is infringed, and 2) force users to file a “notice of use” with the Copyright Office with a description of the work, a summary of the search they conducted to find the copyright owner, the source of the work, and a description of the how the work will be used in order to facilitate communication between owners and users. In large part, the Act would limit the financial liability of someone who infringed the work after making a good faith diligent attempt to find the owner.
Read MoreYou will be infringed at some point; it’s almost a statistical certainty, so you might as well know how to deal with it. There are many strategies you could employ to do that, but since none of you are paying me, I’m not giving them all away here. There’s one in particular, though, that I think is worth discussing here: using social media to rally public opinion around your issue to leverage your bargaining power. The internet can be a really amazing tool for change in that way.
Read MoreWhen you find out that someone is using your work without your permission, the urge to satisfy your vengeance upon the infringer will feel overwhelming. Sending a threatening letter can be a powerful salve because it indulges your righteous fury. But you should fight that urge because I think being nice can often reap you greater benefits.
Read MoreToho Studios, the owner and creator of Godzilla, is suing Voltage Pictures over a monster movie it is producing starring Anne Hathaway. The film, entitled "Colossal," will feature Hathaway as a woman whose mind is connected to a giant lizard that is destroying Tokyo. Haha what??!! You kind of have to respect the audacity to run with an idea that sounds like it came from someone's drug-induced fever dream.
Read MoreA lot of people are unhappy about the Mayweather-Pacquaio fight, and not because Pacquiao lost. The fight of the century was rebroadcast on Periscope and Meerkat, the live-streaming apps, allowing people to watch the fight for free instead of ponying up the $100 pay-per-view fees. Now, the PGA and NHL are banning the apps outright and threatening any live-streamers with infringement suits.
Read MoreI enjoy seeing people using art and technology to make change. Reconciling that desire with my oath to uphold the law isn't easy and I struggle with it constantly. I think the first step is knowing what the law is and what your rights are. Only then can you push back effectively. Whether or not he consulted with an attorney, KATSU certainly knows what he faces every time he goes outside with a spray can. That knowledge is the difference between art that matters and art that’s just taking up space. That’s the difference between being bold and being reckless. KATSU decided that saying something, knowing that he could go to jail for it, is more important than saying nothing and being safe.
Read MoreMy latest Cinema Law column for Moviemaker Magazine is out and deals with whether or not to get waivers from background people and passers-by when they walk through your shot. I won't give it all away here (you have to go to the article to hear what I have to say), but I will say this: you probably don't need to be as diligent as I used to be back in my days as a young producer. Head over to Moviemaker Magazine to check it out in full!
Read MoreSubmitting your film to a festival can be one of the most nerve-racking experiences a filmmaker can have. Believe me I know. In my latest Cinema Law column over at MovieMaker Magazine, I discuss the importance of protecting your copyrighted film before anyone can see it and how that can give you peace of mind. Here's a brief snippet from the article, which you can read in full by heading over here.
Read MoreThe other day, J.K. Rowling gave an interview with Matt Lauer about her charity Lumos and mentioned she probably wouldn't write another story about Harry and the gang, although she wouldn't foreclose the opportunity altogether. I don't know whether Rowling will ever return to Harry Potter but I do know that she shouldn't. In fact, I think she should relinquish all rights to the Potterverse before she messes it all up.
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