Intellectual Property Law

Judge Wood slams LimeWire: Last Wednesday Federal Judge Kimba Wood of the Southern District of New York delivered her summary judgment against peer-to-pee network, Limewire and its founder Mark Gorton, in the copyright infringement case brought by 13 recording companies (and represented by the RIAA). Judge Wood held that Lime Wire LLC and Lime Group LLC had induced users to infringe copyright law and was vicariously liable for those infringements. Commentators are anticipating that the RIAA will now apply for an interim injunction against LimeWire to stop the file-sharing functionality. Judge Wood's strongly worded judgment is being heralded by some as the nail in the p-2-p coffin. For further information see these articles in CNET and the Wall Street Journal.

Macy's sued by Sleepy's: A Hicksville, New York mattress and bed retailer, Sleepy's, has launched a trade mark infringement claim in New York federal court against the second-biggest US department store chain - Macy's. The trade mark at dispute is the tag-line "the mattress professionals" which they allege Macy's is infringing with the marks "Ask our Mattress Pros" and "Factory-Trained Mattress Professional". The AmeriKat thinks that Sleepy's need a good rest on one of their mattresses, because she cannot see the claim there....can you?

Viacom's Hollywood friends to the rescue: As previously reported here by the AmeriKat, the Viacom v YouTube litigation has been heating up. Now come reports that further amicus curaie briefs were filed in support of Viacom's copyright infringement claim against YouTube. The further briefs were filed by Disney, ASCAP (bless you!), NBC, Warner Brothers and the Screen Actors Guild. For more information see these reports here and here