College Athletes: You Want to Get Paid without Violating NCAA Rules? File a Trademark Lawsuit a la Johnny Manziel

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:02:00 -0400

Under NCAA rules, boosters can't pay college athletes, but apparently, the courts can.

The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the NCAA has determined that Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner, Johnny Manziel, can keep any potential earnings awarded in his recently filed trademark lawsuit.

Two weeks ago, Jman2 Enterprises, L.L.C., which owns all rights

Yankees Win! New York Yankees Successfully Oppose Trademark Registration of Ominous Moniker, “Evil Empire”

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:20:00 -0400

Red Sox fans - next time you ridicule the Yankees, you might need to first apply for a trademark license to do so. And worst of all, you'll need to seek that license from your subject of ridicule, the Yankees themselves.

The New York Yankees have successfully opposed registration of the trademark, BASEBALLS EVIL EMPIRE

Boxer, Floyd Mayweather, Claims Bar’s Super Bowl Party Ad Violated His Trademark/Right of Publicity

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:15:00 -0400

Boxing great, Floyd Mayweather, has sued The Wine Bistro New Orleans, a bar, restaurant and nightclub, accusing the bar of unfair competition, violating his right of publicity and trademark infringement.

The Wine Bistro is accused of posting print advertisements as well as a YouTube advertisement on its Facebook Page, claiming that Floyd Mayweather

YouTube Mom Continues Misrepresentation Fight Against Administrator of Prince’s “Let's Go Crazy" Copyright

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 09:23:00 -0400

A collection of music companies will continue to defend themselves against a mother who was once accused of copyright infringement after she posted a YouTube video of her children dancing to a Prince song.

A California federal court refused to grant Universal Music Corporation, Universal Music Publishing, Inc., and Universal Music Publishing Group (collectively, Universal) summary judgment with respect to Stephanie Lenz's claim of misrepresentation under At the dawn of Tim Tebow mania, so many eons ago, man became infatuated with the art of "Tebowing." Like its predecessors "planking" and "moon walking," Tebowing became a verb that would be with us for generations to come.

For those not in the know, Tebowing is the act of taking a knee in a prayer-like fashion.

There are many great celebrity names worthy of verb status (e.g., Bruce Willising and Morgan Freemaning), but only a few, such as Tebowing, are worthy of a trademark:

"Bams!" and "Pows!" Continue in DC Comics' Batmobile Infringement Lawsuit

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:07:00 -0400

Back in the '60s, Batman, as played by Adam West, starred in a campy television show, complete with Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Cesar Romero as the Joker. The whole thing was made extra campy by the insertion of comic book onomatopoeia (i.e., forming a word by imitating a sound) during the fight scenes. For example:

"Pows!" and "Bams!" are threatening enough, but what would the Riddler have thought if Batman's punches had included a legal threat:

Duane Morris LLP: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Profit-Sharing Verdict Upheld by Ninth Circuit

Duane.Morris@placeholder.com (Duane Morris LLP) — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 06:53:00 -0400

On December 3, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Celador International, Inc. v. American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., et al. [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers] upheld an interesting jury verdict, resulting in a $319 million judgment against Disney relating to an agreement for ABC to obtain the North American rights to the hit TV show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?"

Last week, the 9th Circuit found the University of Arizona immune to counterclaims filed by trademark defendants accused of wrongfully selling prints called "Ansel Adams Lost Negatives." Ansel Adams Publ Rights Trust v. PRS Media Partners, LLC, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 25896 (9th Cir. Cal. Dec. 19, 2012) [enhanced version available

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz: Federal Court Rejects Albert Einstein Right of Publicity Claim

FrankfurtKurnitKleinSelz@placeholder.com (Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:03:00 -0400

In rejecting a right of publicity claim by Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which claims to control the rights to

DC Federal Court Prevents Movants from Proceeding Anonymously in Peer-To-Peer File-Sharing Copyright Case despite First Amendment Concerns

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:29:00 -0400

The District Court for the District of Columbia has upheld a magistrate's order preventing peer-to-peer file-sharing defendants from proceeding anonymously. Hard Drive Prods. v. Does 1 - 1,495, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137719 (D.D.C. Sept. 26, 2012) [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers]. The order, which prevented

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: Lend Us Your Ears: Museums Implore Senate

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:50:00 -0400

By Kathryn Hines and Manuel Gomez

This year, visitors to the Metropolitan Museum of Art were able to view Rembrandt's Portrait of the Artist (ca. 1665), on loan from the Kenwood House in North London and in the United States for the very first time. Also this year, visitors to the Philadelphia Museum of Art experienced Van Gogh Up Close, an exhibition featuring some of the artist's most innovative paintings, on loan from private collectors and museums worldwide, including the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Centraal Museum in Utrecht, and the

Famed Movie Restaurant, Mystic Pizza, Going to Court over Trademark

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:40:00 -0400

The restaurant Mystic Pizza, best known for the Julia Robert's movie bearing the same name, filed suit on Tuesday against Victoria L'Homme d/b/a Pizza Grille of Mystic. Mystic Pizza is accusing the defendant of cybersquatting and trademark infringement.

The Mystic Pizza brand, which goes back to 1973, grained notoriety and fame with the 1988 release of the movie,

The 7^th Circuit yesterday rejected a claim of contributory copyright infringement directed at the video/social bookmarking service, myVidster. The court held that myVidster is not a contributory infringer when a visitor to its website bookmarks a copyrighted video and later someone clicks on the bookmark and views the video. Flava Works v. Gunter, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 15977 (7th Cir. 2012) [Guitarist Esteban and Home Shopping Network Survive Fishman Transducers' Trademark Lawsuit

In late 2006, the Home Shopping Network (HSN) sold about 70,000 "Esteban" guitars that it inaccurately identified as containing Fishman guitar "pickups." Fishman sued for trademark infringement, and earlier this month, the First Circuit rejected the disgorgement of profits on a finding of un-willfulness.

Defendants did not seriously deny infringing the Fishman trademark and falsely advertising the guitars as containing Fishman pickups. The evidence showed that the guitars in question had been manufactured for HSN in China by Force Limited (Force), which had previously made Esteban guitars for HSN using pickups supplied by a company named Belcat. Then, in 2006, Force substituted another Belcat pickup that Belcat told Force was a Fishman or "Fishman-type" pickup. Force then advised HSN that the guitars contained Fishman

LaFrance on First Amendment Protection for Expressive Works Depicting Trademarks

mary.lafrance@unlv.edu (Mary LaFrance) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 09:10:00 -0400

In University of Alabama Bd. of Trustees v. New Life Art, Inc., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 11794 (11th Cir. June 11, 2012) [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers], the Eleventh Circuit joined several other circuits in recognizing a high degree of First Amendment protection for traditional expressive works which make unauthorized

Ninth Circuit's View of the DMCA Safe Harbor for User-Generated Content

mary.lafrance@unlv.edu (Mary LaFrance) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:11:00 -0400

In Viacom Int'l, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc. [enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers], the Second Circuit interpreted the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA that limit the liability of ISPs for storing infringing material at the direction of users. The decision adopts a broad interpretation of "storage"

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: Are Formats The Floor Mats Of Copyright?

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:24:00 -0400

By Edwin Komen

On Friday afternoon, June 15, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Allen Feess, Central District of California

Rawlings Files Gold Glove Trademark Lawsuit against Wilson Sporting Goods

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:45:00 -0400

Yesterday, Rawlings, a manufacturer of baseball gloves, filed a lawsuit accusing Wilson Sporting Goods of infringing Rawlings' Gold Glove mark. Created in 1957, the Gold Glove Award, which honors outstanding defense at the professional level, consists of a gold glove attached to

NBA Finals: Trademark Law Favors Miami Heat as OKC’s Kevin Durant Sued over Durantula Nickname

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 08:43:00 -0400

It's bad enough that Kevin Durant has to guard Lebron James on the basketball court, but now, the Oklahoma City Thunder's superstar has to guard his Durantula nickname in a court of law. Yesterday, Mark Durante sued Kevin Durant and Nike for trademark infringement, claiming ownership of Durantula.

According to the We live in a time of robust trademark ¹ protection, but the fact that a trademark owner has a right does not mean the owner should always exercise that right. There are times when asserting a trademark right might do more harm than good to a trademark owner, without addressing any real threat to that

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: The Studious Studio - Business Practices for Artists

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:26:00 -0400

By Christine Steiner

The recent troubles of Knoedler Gallery, now airing in the press and later, presumably, in the courtroom, may shed some light on certain art world concerns - due diligence, gallery sale practices, sophisticated fakes/forgeries, and problems with authenticity in the market. This piece discusses the importance of carefully managing the business of artistic production. These considerations include strict inventory lists, transaction history, image and information database management, responsible studio control, and good artistic practices in general.

In one of our

Football Powerhouse, University of Alabama, Suffers Defeat in 11th Circuit Trademark / Football Painting Case

travis.burchart@lexisnexis.com (Travis Burchart) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 11:42:00 -0400

The Alabama Crimson Tide came rolling into court this week only to find its trademark claims stuffed at the goal line. Who did the stuffing? The First Amendment, with a little help from the 11^th Circuit. As the court stated:

[W]e have no hesitation in joining our sister circuits by holding that we should construe the Lanham Act narrowly when deciding whether an artistically expressive work infringes a trademark. This requires that we carefully "weigh the public interest in free expression against the public interest in avoiding consumer confusion." An artistically expressive use of a trademark will not violate the Lanham Act "unless the use of the mark has no artistic relevance to the underlying work whatsoever, or, if it has some artistic relevance, unless it explicitly misleads as to the source or the content of the work."

(citations omitted)

By Christine Steiner

In the same era Gerald Ford advised his fellow Americans that "our long national nightmare is over," as he succeeded Richard Nixon as president, the California Legislation enacted the sloppily-drafted California Resale Royalty Act, Civil Code Section 986. The act was not exactly a nightmare, in truth it slumbered for most of its thirty-plus lifetime. It seemed more honored in the breach than the

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: A Murality Play

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:31:00 -0400

By Valentina Shenderovich and Christine Steiner

Public wall murals have been the subject of much attention recently. Legislators for Los Angeles, considered the "mural capital of the world", are reviewing a proposed city ordinance to preserve vintage art murals and to repeal an existing ban on private murals (enacted as an overzealous attempt to stem graffiti). Wall murals are the focus of attention in other cities as well. Murals are visible and public "public art", presenting social,

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: Life After Death - Right of Publicity Law

Wed, 02 May 2012 07:18:00 -0400

By Kathryn Hines and Christine Steiner

Society is consumed with celebrity. We can survey Hollywood marriages and divorces, analyze Golden Globe wardrobe choices and comment upon the latest Lindsey Lohan foible. It is not surprising that many artists have channeled this societal obsession, featuring celebrities in paintings, collages and video installations. Moreover, as we approach the anniversaries of the death dates of Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse, commemorative portraits are likely to be

Copyright & Trademark Law Community Arts and Entertainment

College Athletes: You Want to Get Paid without Violating NCAA Rules? File a Trademark Lawsuit a la Johnny Manziel

Yankees Win! New York Yankees Successfully Oppose Trademark Registration of Ominous Moniker, “Evil Empire”

Boxer, Floyd Mayweather, Claims Bar’s Super Bowl Party Ad Violated His Trademark/Right of Publicity

YouTube Mom Continues Misrepresentation Fight Against Administrator of Prince’s “Let's Go Crazy" Copyright

"Bams!" and "Pows!" Continue in DC Comics' Batmobile Infringement Lawsuit

Duane Morris LLP: "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Profit-Sharing Verdict Upheld by Ninth Circuit

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz: Federal Court Rejects Albert Einstein Right of Publicity Claim

DC Federal Court Prevents Movants from Proceeding Anonymously in Peer-To-Peer File-Sharing Copyright Case despite First Amendment Concerns

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP: Lend Us Your Ears: Museums Implore Senate

Famed Movie Restaurant, Mystic Pizza, Going to Court over Trademark