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EMINEM WINS COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT AGAINST NEW ZEALAND POLITICAL PARTY

By Joseph Mandour on October 31, 2017

Eminem Wins Copyright Lawsuit Against New Zealand Political PartyLos Angeles – A judge recently held that a New Zealand political party infringed on Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” copyright when it used a song that sounded very similar to Eminem’s hit. The song was used in a 2014 election advertisement. The judge awarded Eminem’s publishing company $415,000 after deciding that the song the National Party purchased from a stock music library was substantially similar to Eminem’s song.

The infringing song’s title is labeled as “Eminem-esque” which likely did not help the defendant. “Lose Yourself” receiv Read the rest

BANANA SUIT COSTUME SPARKS SCARY HALLOWEEN COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT

By Joseph Mandour on October 4, 2017

Banana Suit Costume Sparks Scary Halloween Copyright LawsuitOrange County – Banana suit costumes are a popular favorite for Halloween, and it turns out there’s big money in them. Enough so that Kmart and Rasta Imposta are entrenched in a copyright lawsuit over a banana suit which is a registered U.S. copyright.

For nearly a decade since 2008, Kmart has been purchasing costumes from costume manufacturer Silvertop Associates which does business as Rasta Imposta. However, this year Kmart and Rasta Imposta failed to reach an agreement on payment terms resulting in Kmart choosing to use another vendor to fulfill banana suit orders Read the rest

CONAN O’BRIEN “JOKE” COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT PROCEEDS TO TRIAL

By Joseph Mandour on May 18, 2017

Los Angeles – Late night television host Conan O’Brien, his writing staff, and Time Warner apparently will have to defend themselves at trial in federal civil court in the coming months. The popular television show “Conan” has been accused of stealing three jokes from a blog.

The jokes were allegedly stolen from the blog of freelance comedy writer, Robert “Alex” Kaseberg in 2014 and 2015. Last Friday, U. Read the rest

EMINEM SUES NEW ZEALAND GOVERNING BODY FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

By Joseph Mandour on May 10, 2017

Eminem Sues New Zealand Governing Body for Copyright InfringementSan Diego – United States rap star, Eminem, is suing the current New Zealand ruling political party for copyright infringement. The dispute is over a campaign ad that the conservative National Party ran during the country’s 2014 election.

Representatives from Eminem’s Detroit based music publishing company, Eight Mile Style, claim that the music that underscores the ad is clearly from Eminem’s international bestselling track “Lose Yourself,” which was featured in the popular motion picture 8 Mile. Eight Mile Style copyright lawyer, Gary Williams, in Read the rest

“WE SHALL OVERCOME” COPYRIGHT LAWSUIT MOVES FORWARD

By Joseph Mandour on November 28, 2016

constitution-flagLos Angeles – A judge in New York last week ruled in favor of allowing a copyright lawsuit challenging the copyright of “We Shall Overcome”. The song is a civil rights anthem and protest song. The lawsuit claims that lyrics in the song have been taken from other songs, such as African-American spirituals, and thus the copyright was never valid.

Plaintiff argues that the other songs have been in the Read the rest

DONALD TRUMP JR. TWEETS A SKITTLES COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

By Joseph Mandour on October 6, 2016

candy-skittlesOrange County – Donald Trump Jr., son of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, recently posted a controversial Tweet. The image is a white bowl full of rainbow-colored Skittles. The text in the photo says, “If I had a bowl of skittles and I told you just three would kill you, would you take a handful? That’s our Syrian refugee problem.”

Trump added his own text with the photo that reads: “This im Read the rest

FATHER SUES FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AFTER LIVE-STREAMING BABY’S BIRTH

By Joseph Mandour on September 29, 2016

baby-toesSan Diego – It seems each day more people are willing to share ever more personal things on the Internet. Along these lines, in May of this year Kali Kanongataa a California resident used Facebook to live stream his wife giving birth. After portions the live stream ended up on television and publicized on the Internet, he sued ABC and Yahoo for allegedly infringing his copyright by displaying the video.

The day after the live stream, ABC’s “Good Morning America” ran a short segment about the live stream and showed a brief excerpt from the video that was up loaded by Mr. Kanogataa which had been widely viewed online since this airing. The c Read the rest

#GRUMPYCAT SUES GRENADE BEVERAGE FOR #COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

By Joseph Mandour on September 9, 2016

cat-lickingLos Angeles – The owners of internet sensation “Grumpy Cat” filed a lawsuit against coffee maker Grenade Beverage. The lawsuit claims that Grenade exceeded the bounds of a 2013 license agreement when it made Grumpy Cat Roasted Coffee and Grumppuccino branded t-shirts. The license only specifically provided for use of the famous cat name for its Grumppuccino iced drink.

The lawsuit also claims that Grenade did not give Grumpy Cat LLC a percentage of the Grumppuccino profits or provide sales and profit numbers, as was required in the license.

Grumpy Cat became popular in 2012 after her now-famous photo was posted online. The cat wa Read the rest

STATUTORY COPYRIGHT DAMAGES NOT AVAILABLE IN LEBRON JAMES TATTOO LAWSUIT

By Joseph Mandour on August 18, 2016

tattooSan Diego – Tattoo artists seeking damages over the use of NBA player tattoos in a video game, were dealt a blow recently when a federal judge dismissed the claim for statutory damages. The tattoo artist company Solid Oak Sketches designed tattoos for several NBA stars and registered the copyright for eight of them in 2015. These tattoos were implemented into player design in video games created by 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive Software, beginning in 2013 with its game NBA 2K14.

Solid Oak Sketches filed a copyright lawsuit in February 2016, claiming unauthorized use of the tattoos in the game’s design and advertising. The lawsuit sought actua Read the rest

#LEDZEPPELIN’S #STAIRWAYTOHEAVEN IS NOT A #COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

By Joseph Mandour on June 27, 2016

stairwayLos Angeles – The ongoing saga of the case of copyright infringement between Led Zeppelin and the trust of Randy Wolfe has finally ended, with the jury finding that Led Zeppelin did not commit copyright infringement. After members of the band Jimmy Page and Robert Plant testified, a federal court jury decided that they did not steal part of “Taurus” when writing “Stairway to Heaven.”

“Taurus” is a song wr Read the rest

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