Categories: Infringement, Music, Music Industry
Do famous musicians download music too? Henry Rollins weighs in on the ever-present debate on illegally downloading music. Click to read The Column in the LA Weekly here.
Categories: Copyright, Film, Infringement, Legal Disputes, Tags: Bradley Cooper, copyright, Ed Helms, Hangover, Hangover II, lawsuit, Mike Tyson, tattoo
Tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill designed Mike Tyson’s unique facial tattoo. He is now suing Warner Bros. Ent. for the (obviously fake) reproduction of the tattoo on Ed Helm’s face in ads for the film and the film itself.
Photo from here.
Whitmill had an agreement with Tyson that Whitmill would retain all ownership rights in the copyright to the tattoo. According to copyright law, anyone who wishes to use the artwork owned by Whitmill has to contact Whitmill for a license to use the artwork. Warner Bros. did not get permission to use the artwork. The use may infringe several aspects of copyright ownership, including reproduction, distribution and adaptation.
Whitmill seeks an injunction — an order to stop the movie’s release. Warner Bros. has not issued a comment. While this could go to trial, I doubt it will. Anyone else smell a settlement?
Original story here.
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Categories: Copyright, Infringement, Legal Disputes, Music, Music Industry, Tags: Joe Walsh, Peter Paterno
Hopefully, you have heard of the musician, Joe Walsh. There is a guy currently running for Congress, also by the name of Joe Walsh. Candidate Walsh has used a song by Musician Walsh without permission for his campaign. In addition, Candidate Walsh also changed some of the lyrics to musician Walsh’s song. These are both no-no’s under copyright law.
When you own a copyright, you are the only one that can do whatever you want with your work. If anyone else wants to use your work, they have to get your permission. If anyone else wants to make changes to your work, they have to get your permission. (Since you may be wondering, there are still the fair use and parody exceptions if they apply.)
Musician Walsh’s attorney has sent a letter to Candidate Walsh. The letter is absolutely true in its statement of law, but written in a manner that is hysterical. My favorite part is where Peter Paterno (Musician Walsh’s attorney) says “Now, I know why you used Joe’s music — it’s undoubtedly because it’s a lot better than any music you or your staff could have written. But that’s the point. Since Joe writes better songs than you do, the Copryright Act rewards him by letting him decide who gets to use the songs he writes.” I applaud you, Mr. Paterno.