Gerald M. Levine, co-author In May 2015, the Authors Guild announced its Fair Contract Initiative, and more recently the Internatioanl Authors Forum presented “Ten Principles for Fair Contracts.” Both highlight the same ” standard” contract terms. These include length of license, fair royalties on e-books . . . . Continue reading Column from Publishers Weekly […]
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Derivative Works: Who Owns What?
By Sheila J. Levine on January 11, 2016 in Authors, Contracts/Copyright, Copyright Act, Copyright Infringement, Fair use, Public domain
Co-Author Gerald M. Levine Courts have recently been busy dealing with the puzzling concepts of derivative works, fair use, and transformation. “Transformation” is the underlying principle of derivative works created either by the author or licensees with the author’s permission; or created without the author’s permission legally under the fair use doctrine. There are two […]
Next Book Option In Publishing Contracts: Benign to Toxic
By Sheila J. Levine on October 20, 2015 in Authors, Contracts/Copyright, Publishing, Publishing contract
Co-author Gerald M. Levine In May 2015 the Authors Guild announced its “Fair Contract Initiative.” So far it has addressed royalty rates on e-books (should be 50% of net receipts not 25% as it presently is), term of license (should be less than term of copyright which is the default term for print books), name […]
Prominent Business Persons and Domain Names
By Gerald M. Levine on September 11, 2015 in Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, Common law trademarks, Contracts/Copyright, Cybersquatting, Domain name law, Trademarks, UDRP Commentaries, udrp law, udrp proceedings
It is a general principle in UDRP jurisprudence (as it is under trademark law) that personal names are not registrable as trademarks, so it follows that a person has no right to a domain name corresponding to his or her name unless the name has acquired distinctiveness by being used in commerce and is recognized […]
Concurrent Trademark Rights Not Grounds for Cybersquatting
By Gerald M. Levine on September 6, 2015 in Abusive registration, Contracts/Copyright, Cyberspace, Cybersquatting, cybersquatting law, Domain name law, Trademarks, Typosquatting, udrp law, udrp proceedings, Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy
It is out of the ordinary for respondents in UDRP proceedings to have registered trademarks; it is more so that parties should also be in the same business. It may be suspicious that the later to register was unaware of the earlier but domain name registrants are under no duty to search trademark databases to […]
Celebrating 305 Years of Statutory Copyright Law
By Sheila J. Levine on July 6, 2015 in Authors, Characters, Contracts/Copyright, Copyright Act, Copyright Infringement, Fair use
Gerald M. Levine, Co-author Rights in Literary Property The United States Copyright Office and many people on social media, particularly on Twitter, have been celebrating the enactment of the first national copyright act in this country that President Washington signed into law on May 31, 1790. The 1790 Act was largely adopted from an earlier […]
Authors and Domain Names
By Gerald M. Levine on June 3, 2015 in Authors, Contracts/Copyright, Copyright Act, Typosquatting, udrp law, udrp proceedings
Copyright law is the principal system for protecting authors’ creations. It confers rights without requiring any other action, but in order to fully benefit from the law authors and parties to whom copyrights have been assigned or sold have to record their copyrights with the Copyright Office. Recordation is the key to protection. Once that […]
Trademark Owner’s Right to Earlier Registered Domain Name
By Gerald M. Levine on May 27, 2015 in Abusive registration, Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act, Contracts/Copyright, Cybersquatting, Renewal of registration, udrp law
The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) provides that “[a] person shall be liable in a civil action by an owner of a mark . . . if . . . the mark . . . is distinctive at the time of the registration of the domain name. . . .” This surely means that if […]
Authors and Domain Names: Claiming Rights to Personal Names, Characters and Titles
By Gerald M. Levine on March 7, 2015 in Abusive registration, Authors, Characters, Domain name law, Trademarks, UDRP Commentaries
This article first appeared in Independent Publisher. Copyright law is the principal system for protecting authors’ creations. It confers rights without requiring any other action, but in order to fully benefit from the law authors and parties to whom copyrights have been assigned or sold have to record their copyrights with the Copyright Office. Recordation […]
Garnishing Domain Names for Unpaid Debts
Initially, in the far distant past, in the mid-1990s, domain names were seen primarily as addresses in cyberspace — much like telephone numbers or postal addresses to which they were analogized — rather than as assets of value in themselves. Realization that domain names were more than addresses came about quickly as one group of […]
The Role of Investors in Marketing Literary Works
By Sheila J. Levine on February 5, 2015 in Authors, Contracts, Contracts/Copyright, Copyright Act, Publishing, Publishing contract
The following article first appeared in Independent Publisher. The full text can also be read in full below. Co-Author Gerald M. Levine Copyright adheres to creative works when they are fixed in tangible mediums of expression for the first time. At the moment of fixation authors own and control their works in every respect, but […]
Standard for Declaring Reverse Domain Name Hijacking
By Gerald M. Levine on December 3, 2014 in Contracts/Copyright, Cybersquatting, cybersquatting law, Domain name law, RDNH, udrp law, Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy
See Anthology of Commentaries — 2014 Except where complainant’s claim is truly egregious for which there can be said to be a “settled policy”––Happy as Clams, Inc., a California Corp., DBA Date Like a Grownup v. Heather Dugan, D2014-1655 (WIPO November 1, 2014)––there is no fixed standard for declaring reverse domain name hijacking. This is […]
Characters As Protectable Assets Do Not Survive Copyright Termination
By Sheila J. Levine on October 26, 2014 in Authors, Characters, Contracts/Copyright, Copyrightability, Publishing
Co-author Gerald M. Levine Characters as protectable assets do not survive copyright termination of the works in which they appear even though they may continue to live on in works that continue in copyright. All works published prior to January 1, 1923 are in the public domain, a vast repository of cultural wealth available for […]
Laches Defense to Cybersquatting Claim
By Gerald M. Levine on August 29, 2014 in Abusive registration, Contracts/Copyright, Cybersquatting, UDRP Commentaries, Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy
Lapse of time versus a laches defense to cybersquatting claim in a udrp case is likely to benefit domain name holder unless the trademark is well-known or famous. While Panels are in accord that waiting too long to initiate a complaint makes it difficult to prove bad faith registration they are split on whether laches […]
Delay in Suing for Copyright Infringement
Co-author, Gerald M. Levine Delay in suing for copyright infringement is not fatal to a claim for damages. Plaintiff in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 decision in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., decided on May 19, 2014, waited 18 years to bring suit. The majority held that laches cannot be invoked as a bar to […]
Proving a Trademark Right for Cybersquatting
Proving a trademark right is essential to maintain a claim of cybersquatting. For registered trademarks, proof of standing is satisfied by submitting a copy of the registration certificate –which “is prima facie evidence of [the trademark’s] validity.” NetApp, Inc. v. July Linett c/o Jolly Co., FA0812001238829 (Nat. Arb. Forum February 5, 2009). There is no […]
Succcessor Proving Ownership of Trademark
By Gerald M. Levine on December 4, 2013 in Abusive registration, Contracts/Copyright, UDRP Commentaries
Ordinarily, a complainant proves ownership of a trademark by displaying a certificate of registration from a national registrar; or, if unregistered by proving use in commerce for a qualified period of time. Having documentation and attaching it to the complaint is easier than having to prove a right which entails proving a reputation reaching back […]
Internet Subscription Libraries
By Sheila J. Levine on November 4, 2013 in Authors, Contracts, Contracts/Copyright, Copyright Act, Publishing
Co-author, Gerald M. Levine New Internet subscription libraries are offering to “lend” digital books based on subscription models that brick and mortar lending libraries in England invented in the 19th Century. For $X dollars per time period subscribers gain access to vast collections of backlist and self-published books at less cost and with none of […]
Predictability Depends on the Panel You Draw
By Gerald M. Levine on October 30, 2013 in Abusive registration, Contracts, UDRP Commentaries, Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy
A general view formed early in the UDRP jurisprudence is that for predictability decisions “should consist of more than, it depends what panel you draw’.” Time Inc. v. Chip Cooper, D2000-1342 (WIPO February 13, 2001) (<lifemagazine.com>). The goal for consistency is achieved through “a strong body of precedent” which “is strongly persuasive” even if not binding. […]
Limits of Protected Speech
By Gerald M. Levine on October 7, 2013 in Abusive registration, Contracts, Cybersquatting, UDRP Commentaries, World Intellectual Property Organization
The question of protected speech is whether the protection is to the domain name or the contents of the website. There are two official “views” about critical speech. Both recognize (at least, generally) that use is “fair” if it is foretold or announced in the domain name and expressed in the content. Thus, “trademark+pejorative.com” that […]