In our
August 14th blog, we explained why just because you
can copy something from the Internet, doesn't mean you
should copy from the Internet. A case on this very issue
that has been around for several years involved the well-known
"Hope" poster of President Obama's face made during
the 2008 campaign. The poster became one of the popular images
of the Obama campaign and many copies were sold. The creator,
Shepard Fairey, eventually fessed up that he did, in fact, create
this image based upon a photograph that was taken by Associated
Press photographer Mannie Garcia.
As reported in the Wall Street
Journal, Mr. Fairey finally agreed to pay
AP $1.6 million and also agreed to get a license before ever using
any AP photographs again. Mr. Fairey could have avoided years
of litigation (and criminal liability for lying during the civil
suit) if he had just followed the AP procedure for obtaining
permission to use the photograph. As the photographer told NPR in 2009 "simply
because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's free for
the taking, and just because you can take it doesn't mean it
belongs to you." Well said Mr. Garcia. So, again, be
very careful and cautious before you copy, cut, and paste things
found on the Internet , or anywhere else for that matter.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
Specific Questions relating to this article should be addressed directly to the author.
Publisher John Wiley & Sons and the American Institute of Physicists has claimed that lawyers and their Chicago-and Minneapolis-based law firms had wrongfully copied journal articles.
Startups and emerging growth companies should focus on building a patent monopoly around the most commercially important choke points of their inventions while making efficient use of their patent dollars and the precious time of their key innovators and technical experts.
Your company has just developed a new invention that it intends to unveil at your annual industry trade show. In advance of the show, your marketing department sends out a press release describing your new invention in detail and launches photos of your invention on your website.
In "Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc.", the Federal Circuit reversed the district court and held that Bayer’s patent covering its Yaz® birth control pill product is invalid as obvious.
On April 18, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York again held that YouTube is subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as an internet service provider despite alleged general knowledge of extensive copyright infringement.
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