Championing a level playing field in intellectual property cases
Today a Seattle jury awarded Seattle professional photographer Lloyd Shugart a $1.3 Million verdict following a three day jury trial. Philip P. Mann of the Mann Law Group was lead trial counsel for Mr. Shugart.
The case arose when Mr. Shugart discovered that his client, Propet USA, Inc., a wholesale supplier of shoes, had been…
Before suing, it’s a good idea to make sure you have a case. It’s also a good idea to play by the rules. Lest anyone forget, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued 2.7 million “reminders” last week to a company that brought an ill-considered copyright infringement case against Compaq Computer Corporation.
Continue Reading Uh…Can We Take a Mulligan?
Some cynics claim Congress passes copyright laws mostly to protect Mickey Mouse. While that might be overstating things, there’s no question the trend over the past thirty years has been to expand the rights of copyright owners, Disney included.
A recent article in Wired talks about a new legal challenge (Kahle v. Ashcroft) to expansive copyright laws. While I don’t think the challenge will succeed, it does raise interesting questions prompted by changes in the way information is now distributed.
Continue Reading Mickey, Watch Your Back. (Famous Mouse Faces New Legal Threat)
In recent weeks, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports music companies like Warner Bros., Sony Music, BMG Music, Capital Re-cords, Elektra and Motown have “blitzed U.S. courthouses with lawsuits against people they accuse of online piracy. Cases have been filed against 744 users of Kazaa, eDonkey, Limewire, Grokster and other file-sharing platforms.”
The lawsuits now are against individuals who have downloaded music as opposed to the larger players who produce or host the peer-to-peer file-sharing programs. It’s the latter group the music industry has battled for years.
Continue Reading Music companies now sue music ‘downloaders’ for copyright violation
