Internet memes take many forms, but whether they are images, videos or phrases, it is important to understand that memes are also subject to copyright protection. “Keyboard Cat” is a 1984 video of a cat named “Fatso” in a blue shirt that appears to be playing an electronic keyboard that was uploaded to YouTube in
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Madden NFL, the Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) game, has sold more than 100 million copies and grossed over $4 billion in sales. The next annual release will be the 25th anniversary edition of the football game. Robin Antonick developed a prototype for a football game on the old Apple II operating
Last month, we discussed US Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante’s March appearance before the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Committee on the Judiciary in which she said copyright law is “showing the strain of its age and requires your attention.” On April 24, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob
Fox canceled the space western television series “Firefly” in 2002 because of low ratings after 11 of the 14 produced episodes aired, but the series enjoyed strong sales when it was released on DVD and gained a strong cult following. In this video, actor Adam Baldwin—who played the mercenary Jayne Cobb on the show—performs “Hero of
The 2010 Hindi film “Knock Out,”was about a businessman being held hostage in a telephone booth be a sniper. If that sounds similar to the 2003 American thriller “Phone Booth,” you are not alone. As India’s New Delhi Television Limited (NDTV) reported, “Bollywood is known for brazenly borrowing ‘inspiration’ from Western films,” but the country’s
Shortly after its release in 2009 Mobigame’s Edge had to be removed from the US and UK Apple Store because of a trademark claim by Tim Langdell, founder of Edge Games, Inc. Multiple outlets have referred to Langdell as a “trademark troll” because of his recurring tendency to sue any game maker who used the term “edge”
Viacom has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Google’s YouTube service for using unauthorized clips of television shows like “The Daily Show,” “The Colbert Report” and “South Park.” The $1 billion lawsuit was first filed in 2007 and a judge sided with YouTube in 2010, although a federal appeals court abandoned the original ruling. On
Country music superstar Garth Brooks has filed a lawsuit that alleges fraud and breach of contract. The Tulsa World reported that Brooks’ former business partner, Lisa Sanderson, claims that “The Red Strokes,” a song from Brooks’ hit 1993 album “In Pieces,” was based on a poem that she wrote. Brooks later founded Red Strokes Entertainment Inc.
The US Register of Copyrights Maria Pallante appeared before the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet Committee on the Judiciary last month. In her prepared remarks, the director of the US Copyright Office said that a major portion of the current copyright statute was enacted in 1976 but it
Several people believe that fashion cannot be protected by copyright law, but there are several laws that prohibit the sale of counterfeit goods, including the Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act, the Trademark Counterfeiting Act of 1984 and the Anticounterfeiting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). However, the New York Post reported on April 7 that Councilwoman
