By Ian B. Brooks Reality Porn Producers Claim Fair Use in Suit against Record Labels Ars Technica reports that Warner Bros. Records and ten other record music labels have filed suit against porn companies RK Netmedia and RealityKings.com. The record labels allege copyright infringement for the use of their unlicensed songs in hundreds of hardcore pornographic videos. They are seeking the maximum statutory penalty of $150,000 per video. RK Netmedia says it will defend the suit under the fair use ... Read More...
Archive for July, 2010
District of Massachusetts reduces jury-awarded damages by 90 percent in copyright infringement lawsuit By Abby Lauer – Edited by Jad Mills Sony BMG Music Entertainment et. al. v. Tenenbaum, No. 07cv11446-NG (D. Mass. July 9, 2010) Slip Opinion In a decision by Judge Nancy Gertner, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts reduced the damages awarded by a jury to members of the recording industry in a copyright infringement lawsuit. After finding defendant Joel Tenenbaum guilty of ... Read More...
Use of Common Words in Trademarks Can Still Dilute By Harry Zhou – Edited by Jad Mills Visa Int’l Serv. Ass’n v. JSL Corp., No. 08-15206 (9th Cir. Jun. 28, 2010) Slip Opinion On June 28, 2010, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada’s grant of summary judgment for Visa International Service Association (“VISA”) on its trademark dilution claim against JSL Corporation (“JSL”). Chief Judge Alex Kozinski delivered the opinion, holding that JSL’s “eVisa” ... Read More...
By Chinh Vo NTP Sues Major Smartphone Makers for Infringing Wireless Email Patents Ars Technica reports that patent holding company NTP has brought suits against Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft, and Motorola, claiming the smartphone makers are infringing eight patents for “delivery of electronic mail over wireless communications systems.” NTP brought a similar suit in 2001 against Blackberry manufacturer RIM, which settled for $612.5 million after several years of litigation. The New York Times notes that NTP may not enjoy ... Read More...
Credit-Card Processors May be Held Liable for Contributory Trademark Infringement in Gucci Counterfeit Suit By Sharona Hakimi – Edited by Matt Gelfand Gucci America, Inc. v. Frontline Processing Corp., No. 09 Civ. 6925 (HB) (S.D.N.Y. June 23, 2010) Order On June 23, 2010, Judge Harold Baer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion to dismiss claims of contributory trademark infringement brought by fashion label Gucci America, Inc. (“Gucci”) against a group of ... Read More...
