Songwriters sue the DOJ A new ruling by the Department of Justice (DOJ) will affect the process involved with clearing rights for copyrighted song lyrics. In response, the recently created (2015) Songwriters of North America (SONA) that represents songwriters sue the DOJ for depriving their members of their property without due process of law. This organization has among its members […]
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Author: Joyce L. Miller
Format Matters with Permissions Requests
Copyright—How Format Matters Format rules your permission requests, not your ownership protection. You own your content in any tangible form. Finished your work? You may want to federally register it in order to give yourself the benefit of being able to sue in federal court. You may think that since your work is in several formats […]
Animal Copyrights cont.
Naruto is not monkeying around folks! The saga of the monkey Naruto’s copyright battle continues. This blog is about more than animal copyrights, however. Regardless of the outcome, there is an obvious lesson for all publishers in Naruto’s case and its appeal regarding the copyrights to the photos taken by the monkey. This case, (discussed below) […]
Timely copyright registration is essenti...
Timely Copyright Registration is Essential Timely copyright registration is essential. All of us, whether authors, bloggers, or companies with a web presence, can let an important step in publishing fall through the cracks. No one may be aware of a problem until they are slammed into the brick wall of infringement-without-an-expedient–means-to-address-it. Often companies and bloggers with […]
Wikipedia a springboard, not a crutch
We often encounter client work that, in our eyes, relies too heavily on Wikipedia. Some “borrowers” copy Wikipedia content into their work without understanding the responsibilities and the consequences of such heavy borrowing. Authors, bloggers, and contributors to articles, books, and blogs are responsible for the intellectual property in their work. It is important to be aware of […]
Graffiti Copyright Battles
I recently acquired copyright permission for a client to use a photograph of a mural painted on the wall of a restaurant. On first consideration, my client didn’t even factor into his publication plan what action might be required for the legal use of the mural. At the time the painting was conceived and created, […]
Substantial similarities
How does the concept of substantial similarities relate to copyright infringement? When we hear that only the expression of an idea and not the idea itself can lead to an infringement claim, we should use caution in assuming that only direct quotes or close paraphrasing will get us in trouble. We may mistakenly think, “Oh […]
Animal Copyrights?
Animal copyrights ownership: a nature photographer and self-publisher vs. a crested macaque. Animal copyrights is one of the more interesting copyright court cases of late. In September 2015 PETA filed a copyright infringement suit in a California federal court asking that Naruto, a crested macaque, be declared the copyright owner of a selfie he took in […]
Quoting Song Lyrics and Staying Legal
Considering quoting song lyrics in your book? A primary question to consider when quoting song lyrics is the importance of the lyrics to your message. If they are important, do you need permission from their copyright owners to use them in your work? It is often wise to clear copyright on even a line or two of song […]
Territories
Territories – Its Place in Copyright Compliance As Sally Ride once said, “All adventures, especially into new territory, are scary.” If you have recently entered the publishing business, possibly as a self-publisher, a key decision you will have to make is in which territories you plan to distribute your works. Questions regarding sales and distribution can be […]