Aviv Gaon on Mr. David L. Hayes’ opening session presentation at the 20th Annual BCLT/BTLJ Symposium, Berkeley, California Setting the Stage for the Future Last April, I had the pleasure of participating in the 20th annual Berkeley Center for Law & Technology and Berkeley Technology Law Journal Symposium. The symposium was focused on the past, […]
A lot of fashion seems to look the same; such is the nature of trends and functionality. Sometimes the similarities go much further. Fashion behemoth Zara (among others) is no stranger to accusations it copied other designers’ styles. The company is in that spotlight again: this time thanks to assertions that it blatantly ripped off […]
The inescapable world of U.S. politics, especially in an election year, consistently offers much legal debate. Somewhat less often, politicians and their entourages accidentally wade into the domain of intellectual property law. Politicians have famously gotten themselves into controversies by using musical works without the artists’ permission (though, without strong moral rights in the U.S., […]
Beyoncé’s Lemonade left a sour taste in at least one person’s mouth. Matthew Fulks, a Louisville-based filmmaker and creative director at the WDRB Kentucky news station, is taking the singer to court for copyright infringement. The plaintiff claims that Lemonade, Beyoncé’s trailer for her latest album, copies “visual and sonic elements” from his short-film “Palinoia.”
Intro: “The Hook” This summer, an American jury found that “Stairway to Heaven” [hereafter Stairway] rockers Led Zeppelin did not infringe the song “Taurus” [hereafter Taurus], performed by the band Spirit. The plaintiff, Randy Wolfe—or rather, a trustee for the trust which owns the late Wolfe’s copyright—was Spirit’s songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, and the copyright […]
During the Holocaust, a Polish Catholic single mother, Francizska Halamajowa, secreted 15 Jews away from the Nazis. Two families hid for years in the hay loft of her pigsty, while another family lived under the floor in her kitchen. She also hid a deserter from the German army in her attic. To evade suspicion, she […]
Introduction As the first collaboration of its kind, in February 2016, IP Osgoode and The Copyright and International Trade Policy Branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage, came together to organize the “Orphan Works Licensing Portal Hackathon”, a multi-day hackathon to develop options for a new online system to process licensing of Canadian orphan works […]
A few thoughts on Prof. Jean-Gabriel Castel’s talk, Fully Autonomous Artificial Super-Intelligence: Is it a threat to the human race or a blessing? How can it be controlled? Introduction Before they died, my parents told me stories of how the world once was … They remembered a green world, vast and beautiful. Filled with laughter […]
If you’re thinking about posting on Instagram one more selfie from your recent trip to Sweden, think again. OffeSntlig Konst, an open database where visitors can see descriptions, maps and images of public works, was recently found guilty of copyright infringement by the Supreme Court of Sweden. According to the court ruling, the platform, owned […]
Alec Peters may be the world’s biggest Star Trek fan. Sure, plenty of Trekkies (or Trekkers, if you prefer) have written fan fiction based on the TV series and movies. A number of fans have even created fan videos. But how many of them have raised more than a million dollars to produce a mockumentary […]