There is a fine line between a regular object that is used for practical purposes and one that has its own artistic value with copyrightable properties. One would generally expect there to be a large buffer zone between a chair and a chair with copyrightable designs such as a specific floral pattern. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Therefore, courts are forced to distinguish between useful articles with only practical characteristics and … Read More
The first example of copyright law in the United States was the Copyright Clause of the U.S. Constitution. It stated that all authors would be granted exclusive rights to their respective writings in order to promote the expansion of general knowledge. As time progressed, other works of art were added to copyright law. This included paintings, designs, music and photographs. The history of copyright law since then has shown us that the … Read More
The owner of a copyright is entitled to certain exclusive rights under the Copyright Act of 1976. These rights include the right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivate works based upon the copyrighted work, to distribute copies of the copyright work to the public by sale or transfer of ownership, to perform the copyrighted work publicly through live means or through audio transmission and to display the copyrighted work publicly. When the … Read More
The term “fair use” refers to the limited permitted copying of copyrighted material without receiving permission from the copyright holders. It is used as a defense against copyright infringement, and if use of a copyrighted work is deemed to be “fair use”, then the action is not considered illegal. The Copyright Act of 1976 cites four factors it uses to determine whether the use of a copyrighted work falls under the category of fair use. The … Read More
A “joint work” is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole. See 17 U.S.C. § 101. A collaborative effort is only classified as a joint work if each author made independently copyrightable contributions to the work and if the authors fully intended to be coauthors. The phrase “independently copyrightable contributions” implies that if all of the authors of the … Read More
Our law firm is based in Los Angeles. We represent clients in all forms of civil litigation. However, each of our attorneys concentrates on his or her own area of practice. Our main practice areas include labor and employment litigation, business litigation, real estate and construction litigation and intellectual property and entertainment litigation.
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Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone: (310) 499-0140
Fax: (888) 667-9576
