Intellectual Property Law

Sorry Paul, They Took Your Kodachrome Away

Posted on June 26, 2009
The technology turn and churn has claimed another piece of history. Kodak is ceasing to make its Kodachrome film. I don’t think that one should be upset about this change but some nostalgia seems proper. Here are some pictures in tribute to the film...

Michael Jackson, IP, and Culture

Posted on June 26, 2009
So first I must admit I am not a huge fan of Michael Jackson. What? Yes. No! I’m afraid so. That being said, for all the oddity that occurred in the later part of his life the man and his work highlight some interesting points in IP and culture...

Law Apps for iPhones (and Blackberry)

Posted on June 24, 2009

Noveck?s Proposals for Open Government

Posted on June 23, 2009
Here is a very nice NYT profile of Beth Noveck’s work at the White House to use technology to enhance democracy: The White House made its first major entree into government by the people last month when it set up an online forum to ask ordinary people for their ideas on how to carry out [...

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A Note on the World Copyright Summit

Posted on June 23, 2009
The recent “World Copyright Summit,” sponsored by CISAC (the “International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers”) only came to my attention after the fact. Glancing through the program materials, I came across a framing editorial for the conference that begins this way: Faced with an era of digital disruption, what would Michelangelo think of the [...

Responsibility and Duty Meet Social Networking

Posted on June 22, 2009
In light of the events in Iran, many may laud the power of tools such as Twitter and Facebook as they allow information to reach the world. Here in the United States, however, a few stories highlight how social networking tools and blogs run into ideas of fairness, honesty, and even justice...

A Sequel in the Rye?

Posted on June 21, 2009
For the moment, J.D. Salinger has in hand an order prohibiting the distribution in the U.S. of 60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye, which is either an unauthorized sequel to (i.e., derivative work, based on) and an invasion of the privacy of the author of The Catcher in the Rye, more or less akin [...

Pen and Parchment at the Metropolitan Museum

Posted on June 21, 2009
I’ve had the pleasure of wandering through the Metropolitan Museum in New York many times over the years, but for the first time, perhaps, yesterday I was fortunate to see an exhibition that really changed the way I (and perhaps others) think about the world of art...

Cyber-Socialism?

Posted on June 21, 2009
Wired “senior maverick” Kevin Kelly has called a wide variety of P2P collaborations a new form of socialism. For example, he points to Craigslist as a collective where the principle “from each according to abilities, to each according to his needs” may well be functioning: How close to a noncapitalistic, open source, peer-production society [...

A New Low

Posted on June 18, 2009
The recording industry’s inquisitorial pursuit of downloaders has reached new heights - or depths.  Map Boon onto the interests represented by the RIAA and Katy onto the interests represented by the accused in this sequence from Animal House: Boon:  Unbelievable...

Property, Identity, and Giuseppe Rossi

Posted on June 17, 2009
Finally, the United States bred a world class soccer talent.  But Giuseppe Rossi was born in New Jersey to Italian parents and dreamed of playing for Italy, as the rules of international soccer allow.  Now he is not only playing for Italy - but he’s scoring the goals that beat the United States...

The Values of the Bat Signal

Posted on June 16, 2009
I drove to Boulder and back earlier this month, which is nothing of consequence except for the fact that I live in Pittsburgh and, with an excursion to Minnesota on the return, I put 3,400 miles on our vehicle.  Picture me in a large blue pickup under the blue Nebraska sky, cruising comfortably in a [...

The Age of Digital Convergence in Hong Kong

Posted on June 13, 2009
Just a quick note. I am fortunate to be in Hong Kong at The Age of Digital Convergence, An East-West Dialogue Law, Media, Technology. The Journalism and Media Studies Centre at The University of Hong Kong and Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake University Law School organized the event and the Faculty of Law at [...

Googlebombing Pittsburgh?

Posted on June 10, 2009
Here in Pittsburgh, civic enthusiasts are so giddy over the prospect of the G-20 summit coming to town next Fall that that they just can’t help themselves.  A local marketing firm has announced that it is launching a campaign to create a network of links that would cause the Google search engine to reply “Pittsburgh” [...

Who Are You? Some Thoughts on Public/Private Information and Who?s Who

Posted on June 02, 2009
I received an email from Who?s Who today. Apparently I have been included on their list of Who’s Who in Law Higher Education. I did not ask to be included and I am not sure that I want to be on this list. So I poked around. Mark Lemley is in their database, and my [...

Too Scandalous To Be A Registered Trademark: ?Pussy Natural Energy?

Posted on June 02, 2009
At least according to the TTAB which said: In this case, it is the term PUSSY which is the focus of the refusal and our analysis. The term PUSSY is the most significant element in the mark. Accordingly, when we discuss the term PUSSY alone, we are mindful that the entire mark is the mark shown [...

No Tags

Posted on June 01, 2009
No Tags

The Pirate Party Expands by Another Country

Posted on June 01, 2009
The Pirate Party has planted another official flag:  Finland, where its 5,000 signatures made it an officially recognized party.  [H/T:  Orgtheory.net] About the Pirate Party, from Wikipedia: The Pirate Party (Swedish: Piratpartiet) is a political party in Sweden...

Literalized Song Video: Bonnie Tyler - Total Eclipse of the Heart

Posted on June 01, 2009
The original: The adapted, “literal video” version: ETA: Live rowdy awesome eff bomb dropping feminist rockstar version of this doofy song here. No Tags

When Paintings Perform

Posted on June 01, 2009
Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker reported on the copyright story behind Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, which I haven’t seen.  Among the pieces in the museum that come alive as part of the film, paintings literally leap off the walls: There is an animated (and occasionally talkative) Degas ballerina, a Jackson Pollock [...

The Issue is, What is a Potato Crisp?

Posted on June 01, 2009
Because I’m not a tax lawyer, I didn’t see Paul Caron’s coverage of the Court of Appeal judgment in the Pringles case, but I did see the New York Times opinion piece this morning.  It’s interesting to watch an obscure little case generate so many different interpretations...

Up ? and Back

Posted on May 30, 2009
[Cross-posted from Concurring Opinions] I just came back from seeing the new Pixar animated film Up .  It?s a charracteristically charming Pixar effort; all thumbs up!  Plus, I got these neat-o 3D glasses.  There?s a little IP angle to the film, though, and I want to use that to anchor this last of my guest posts...

Maps and Legends

Posted on May 29, 2009
Space the final frontier. These are the voyages of ? ah, you know the rest. Exploration and the idea of frontiers seem to capture an important part of the human experience. The possibility of finding something new, of entering uncharted territories excites people...

What Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Hath Wrought

Posted on May 29, 2009
Yet another reason to simply laugh at the claims that porn is “under attack” in this country; it could hardly be more mainstream. No Tags

SchoolHouse Rock - Walkin? On Wall Street

Posted on May 26, 2009
Not exactly sure what the takeaway is supposed to be… No Tags

Read virtualpolitik if you don?t already.

Posted on May 24, 2009
It’s a fantastic blog. No Tags

Size Matters or What?s an IMAX?: Thoughts on Branding and Meaning

Posted on May 23, 2009

?Blogola: The FTC Takes On Paid Posts - The Federal Trade Commission wants bloggers to disclose when they?ve been wooed with cash or freebies from companies they cover?

Posted on May 23, 2009
From Business Week: This summer, the government agency is expected to issue new advertising guidelines that will require bloggers to disclose when they’re writing about a sponsor’s product and voicing opinions that aren’t their own. The new FTC guidelines say that blog authors should disclose when they’re being compensated by an advertiser to discuss a product...

Via. No Tags

Posted on May 22, 2009
Via. No Tags

The Watchmakers? Court and Related Curiosities

Posted on May 22, 2009
[Cross-posted from Concurring Opinions] This recent New Yorker piece about ?Baselworld,? the annual watchmakers? confab in Switzerland (Patricia Marx, ?Face Value,? May 25, 2009) included a throwaway line that I found fascinating.  Baselworld is so large that it has its own police force and ?a judiciary to settle trademark disputes...

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