Law Podcasts and Our Future

This week I have researched and listened to three podcasts from three different sources on three very different topics that media professionals should all be aware of.

The first podcast is hosted by Colette Vogele Rules for the Revolution: The Podcast. She interviews Alex Curtis, the Director of Policy and New Media at Public Knowledge. They discuss the topic of Orphan Works, which has become a problem for copyright law in Congress. Orphan Works occur when the owners of copyrighted materials cannot be found. Some organizations believe that laws should be put into place so that there would be proof that someone who wanted to use an Orphan Work had tried to find the copyright owner in order to ask for permission. Those of us who find great materials such as old photographs and sound recordings might not be able to use them in our own materials with the expanding copyrights terms that are available today. 

The next topic I have listened to comes from TED and covers the problems and challenges of copyright in fashion. Johanna Blakley opens with a scene where a woman discovers a unique piece of clothing and not only tells her friend she is going to buy the jacket, she is going to replicate it. In the fashion industry, copyrights are not available to clothing and fashion. Trademarks and logos are protected but the design and craftsmanship are not. She says that the reason for this is that the "courts decided long ago that the apparel is too utilitarian to qualify for copyright protection. They didn't want a handful of designers owning the seminal building blocks of our clothing". Having a creative field without the pressures and restrictions creates two things, dilution and creativity. Trends grow and expand but once they have reached their peak, it's time for something new to take over. 

The final topic I have listened to covers Design Patent Infringement and Gohram Vs. White - How one Man's Spoon Revolutionized Design Law from Suffolk University's intellectual property law series. Christopher V. Cariani describes Gorham Mfg. Company's created a design for a spoon handle that was patented in 1861. Leroy S. White was accused of patent infringement when he tried to patent his own spoon handle designs. The lower court ruled that there was no infringement as the ordinary observer test but the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gorham and declared infringement on the other designs. This is the only time that the Supreme Court has ruled on a design patent case. They ruled that if the design were to be very similar to the common person but enough that it would force the consumer to choose one over the other, then it was infringing on the original patent. 

Celebrity Troubles

In the entertainment industry there can be many setbacks as you try  to start and grow your business. Here are three current event examples to review and learn from.

On Monday, CNET published an article revealing a lawsuit that accuses high ranking companies of fixing worker pay. The lawsuit suggests that "senior executives from Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar 'entered into an interconnected web of express agreements to eliminate competition among them for skilled labor'" and that those affected should be compensated. For those of us starting and growing our companies, money can be tight but we need to make sure that our employees are compensated for their creativity and involvement fairly.

Twitter has proven to be a useful social media tool, but despite it's professional uses others have found the entertainment value in creating false accounts. When I first joined Twitter in 2009, I ran a general search for Green Day, my favorite band. After a drawn out search I realized Green Day did not have their own twitter account but there were many accounts claiming to be. There is a new California bill being put into place to prevent false accounts like these and could be charged with a misdemeanor and could face a fine up to $1,000 and up to one year in prison. While everyone should be mindful of their own social media accounts, a law such as this one could help you recover a domain or username that infringes on your brand.

This week has been an interesting week for copyright infringement suits as Jay-Z has been accused of infringement in his 2000 hit "Big Pimpin'". His accuser is Osama Ahmed Fahmy whose father Baligh Hamdy wrote the original composition for the 1960 Egyptian film Fata Ahlami. Though Jay-Z and others say they obtained the proper licenses, it appears it was only for the unaltered sample and not a "mutilated" sample. This is a reminder that we must be aware and diligent of the copyrights and licenses we borrow from others. Be careful what you consider your own intellectual property, great minds do think alike.