The duration for which a copyright is afforded protection has changed tremendously throughout the years. As the law currently stands, for any copyrighted work created after January 1, 1978, protection lasts for the remainder of the author’s life, plus an additional 70 years. When compared to patents, which generally provide protection for 20 years, this “life +70” term may seem, for all intents and purposes, to provide never-ending protection to the owner of a copyright. But

The internet is one of the best means to share your art work and to gain exposure. However, your work on the internet is also extremely susceptible to copyright infringement. There are a number of quick and simple initial steps to protecting your intellectual property. Protection against Copyright Infringement Copyright protection exists for original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived,

A jury trial was set for the copyright Infringement lawsuit, Skidmore, et al v. Led Zeppelin, et al., No. 2:14-cv-03089 (E.D. Pa., May 31, 2014), alleging that the band stole the guitar line and melody from the song “Taurus” written by Randy Craig Wolfe and used it in the song “Stairway to Heaven.” You can find more information in Part Iand Part II of this article. The trial that was set for May 10, 2016 but Los Angeles U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner has postponed the s

What would we do without broadcast radio? I listen to it every day. Radio has long been one of the biggest stages for new and struggling performing artists, both known and unknown. Performers, artists, musicians, and record labels use broadcast radio as a promotional tool to expose their music to more fans and hopefully sell more records. Luckily, songwriters and publishers are able to earn performance royalties from radio airplay. Have you ever wondered (as I do) who gets pa

To better understand existing U.S. copyright laws, a review of U.S. copyright history may be helpful. This article will present some of the important dates in U.S. copyright history. The Statute of Anne was enacted on April 10, 1710 and was the basis for British and American copyright law.1 The Statute of Anne stated “An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by Vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or Purchasers of such Copies….”2 This “statute granted to the au

What is Periscope? Periscope is a live streaming video mobile app acquired by Twitter in January 2015 for a reported $100 million. It has been the talk of the town since its official launch on March 26, 2015. As noted in the Periscope Blog: “For viewers, Periscope gives you a new set of eyes and ears. Travel the world and step into someone else’s shoes. See what they see, hear what they hear, and hopefully feel what they feel. Watching a broadcast isn’t a passive experience l

Just in time for my birthday at the end of the month, a federal judge ruled that the lyrics to “Happy Birthday to You” are in the public domain and not copyrighted by Warner/Chappell Music. U.S. District Judge George H. King ruled Tuesday that the copyright originally filed by the Clayton F. Summy Co. in 1935 granted only the rights to specific arrangements of the tune and not its lyrics. According to court documents, the music for “Happy Birthday to You,” which was originall

For the past year and a half we have enjoyed the hit song “Blurred Lines,” composed by Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams, and Clifford Harris, Jr. (a/k/a T.I.). If you didn’t have the pleasure of dancing to it and grooving to the beat at least one time, then you have missed a great experience. In fact, it rocked the radio airwaves so many times per day, that when the children of the late, great soul singer Marvin Gaye heard it, they accused Thicke and Williams (who share the ac

In Part I of this article regarding the Pennsylvania federal court copyright infringement law suit brought by the heirs of songwriter Randy Craig Wolfe (aka California Randy) in Skidmore, et al. v. Led Zeppelin, et al., No. 2:14-cv-03089 (E.D. Pa., May 31, 2014), I discussed the bare bones of the lawsuit and how copyright law will impact the suit. In this installment I will go in depth about the song and the background of the parties involved. In 1970, Led Zeppelin’s guitaris

Have you ever seen the 1992 film Wayne’s World when Wayne Campbell, played by Mike Myers, visits a music store and picks up a guitar, and launches into the first few notes of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” only to be cut short by a clerk pointing to a sign reading “No ‘Stairway to Heaven?'” The joke is pretty simple: most novice electric guitarists attempt to learn that song early on. The joke in the film became less funny when Led Zeppelin refused to allow those notes t

In August, the U.S. Copyright Office released a public draft of the third edition of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices. The Compendium is the administrative manual for the Register of Copyrights explaining the services of the Copyright Office, and serves as an internal guide to Copyright Office staff “regarding their statutory duties.” Compendium III also “provides expert guidance to copyright applicants, practitioners, scholars, the courts, and members of the

Taking a “Selfie” is old hat these days. I am usually the last person to engage in the latest trend, but after trading in my flip phone just last year and upgrading to a phone with a good camera, I have surrendered to the trend and taken photographs of myself out with the girls or at my favorite new restaurant. My guilt over my narcissistic behavior was eased a little when I saw the adorable selfies taken by an Indonesian macaque. I was delighted, but British photographer Dav

It has been a hot summer for intellectual property law geeks. The season opened with a storm accusing the Washington NFL team of using a derogatory term for its team name. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled that it was and canceled the relevant marks. Lightning and thunder ensued. The summer cooled at the end with an actual debate over ownership of a photo taken by a monkey. Yes, a photo taken by a monkey was debated by serious legal minds. Suddenly, David Letterman’s

Can I write a story about James Bond if I change his martini preference to “stirred not shaken"? Or maybe a little blip about a character named Winnie the Pooh if my character has fur that is a dark shade of brown? Of course not, because these characters are still protected under copyright laws, but I believe these are some of the questions that may be settled by a final judgment regarding the Sherlock Holmes stories. On December 23, 2013, U.S. District court Judge Rueben Cas

When you share someone else’s photographs, quotes, images, and facts on Pintrest, Tumblr, Flickr, Facebook, your personal blog, or any other social media, could you be committing copyright infringement? If you are using these social media pages like most people, the answer is probably yes. Some misconceptions regarding social media and copyright laws are: 1.) As long as I am not making money off the work then I am not infringing. This is not true. You would still be subject t

The yard sale, a horrible scene of carnage and tie-dye, is an American economic tradition. Behind a table, a husband sobs as his beloved Collector’s Edition Big Mouth Billy Bass is sold to a snickering teenager. The wife gleefully collects the $1.50. This is a secondary sale, a physically staked Craigslist and eBay. This is not the easily defined black market. No, these three innocents of a seemingly simple transaction have just crossed over into the Grey Market. The Grey Mar

From my earlier article, you know that you have to make sure that the music download website is a licensed distributor of the music that you want to download, otherwise you are downloading the music illegally. Let’s say you have taken this step. So you have found a properly licensed music download website that claims to allow you to download music for free. So no problems, right? Unfortunately, this may not be the case. For example, a mom downloaded music from a website that

If you spend any time on the internet, you will quickly run into offers for free music downloads for your listening enjoyment. But beware, that free music that you want to download may not be free. There are sites that claim to be licensed distributors of the music that they are offering and may even charge you a fee for their services, but do not have any legal right to offer this music. When you download from these sites, you are doing so illegally. This was the case in 200

A Copyright is defined to be an “intangible, incorporeal right granted by statute to the author or originator of certain literary or artistic productions, whereby he is invested, for a limited period, with the sole and exclusive privilege of multiplying copies of the same and publishing or selling them.”1 In the United States (U.S.), a Copyright is a form of protection provided for by the U.S. Constitution which states “The Congress shall have Power… To promote the Progress o

With the holidays approaching, you cannot go far without hearing the familiar sounds of Christmas in the stores, in the car, and at places of worship, and if you are friends of our family, we might show up at your front door and regale you with song during our annual caroling outing. Like all creative property, Christmas music and lyrics are eligible for copyright protection. Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution grants the government the power to “promote the progress