Exceeding Software User-Limit a Much More Dangerous Proposition Than You Might Realize
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Mar 4, 2021 in Copyrights
Written by Guest Author, Marks Gray Associate Logan McEwen On February 25, 2021, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Bitmanagement Software GMBH v. U.S. At issue was software developed for the U.S. Navy which required payment on a per-user basis, and what it meant if the Navy allowed more users of the software than it paid for. Pushing aside the issues of “how to sue the federal government” and “calculating damages […]
Continue ReadingOffer Presentations for Your Business? Protect Your Original Materials
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Feb 18, 2021 in Copyrights
Are you providing workshops, seminars, and training sessions as part of your business? Do you use your own original manuals, books, videos and presentation materials? If you are using your own original materials, you should protect them from potential infringers – unscrupulous people who take your materials, copy them and redistribute them in their name. Sadly, there are infringers everywhere making money off the hard work of others. Some of the steps you can take […]
Continue ReadingWhat Songwriters Can Do to Take Advantage of the New Blanket License for Mechanical Royalties
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Jan 21, 2021 in Copyrights
As songwriters know only too well, a significant portion of music these days is shared online, either by people downloading it directly or streaming it through various services. Unfortunately, up until this year, how royalties through these services work has been complicated at best. That all changed on January 1st though, thanks to the Music Modernization Act (MMA). As part of the act, a new blanket license for mechanical royalties was created, as was a […]
Continue ReadingCopyright Owners Seeking Less than $30,000 in Damages Can Now Skip Federal Court
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Jan 14, 2021 in Copyrights
Are you the owner of a copyright that has been violated? Are you seeking damages that are less than $30,000? Good news is here! You may have heard that in December of last year, Congress passed the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (CASE Act) as part of their COVID relief bill. The CASE Act allows for the creation of a separate copyright infringement tribunal system for small claims cases. In other words, […]
Continue ReadingShould You Talk to Your Child about Copyright Law?
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Dec 3, 2020 in Copyrights
There are many important issues that parents know they need to talk to their kids about. Drugs. The importance of a good education. The birds and the bees. One thing that probably flies right past most parents’ radars is Copyright law. Why in the world would you want to talk to your children about copyright law? Because kids — and honestly, all of us, really — are encountering copyright issues on a daily basis whether […]
Continue ReadingA Copyright Infringement Case that Rose from the Dead
Crystal Broughan, Intellectual Property Attorney Oct 22, 2020 in Copyrights
In honor of Halloween, this week I thought I would (if you will forgive the pun) resurrect a case from 2008: that of Dawn of the Dead vs. Dead Rising. Video game or horror movie aficionados may remember that this one was a pretty big deal when it occurred. But for those who are not in the know, here is a recap. Dawn of the Dead is a 1978 film by George Romero that is […]
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