9/23/2025 4:29:22 PM The May Massacre: Firings, AI, and Constitutional Crisis at the Copyright Office By Brian Murphy These are extraordinary times. And this is an extraordinary case. In 2020, Shira Perlmutter was appointed Register of Copyrights by Dr....
9/15/2025 11:28:02 AM Ninth Circuit Ponders: Striking Similarity or (Penny) Dreadful Coincidence? By Brian Murphy "Murder & Roses: Victorian London Crime and Scandals” is an online forum (possibly found here) where fans can spin tales of crime and...
9/8/2025 3:56:58 PM Psychic Readings and Legal Proceedings: Miss Cleo and Copyright Law By Brian Murphy In the 1990s, commercials for pay-by-the-minute 1-900 phone services were ubiquitous, especially in the wee hours of the morning. In the...
6/4/2025 11:05:19 AM Eleanor – the Ford Mustang from Gone in 60 Seconds – Not a Copyrightable Character By Brian Murphy In both the 1974 original and the 2000 remake of Gone in 60 Seconds, a gang of accomplished thieves attempts to steal dozens of classic...
1/23/2025 2:48:29 PM Copyright in Motion: Ninth Circuit Recognizes Kinetic Sculptures as Eligible for Copyright Protection By Brian Murphy In a decision published last week, a panel of the Ninth Circuit held that kinetic sculptures - works that incorporate movement as a...
12/24/2024 6:03:50 PM Weaponizing Trademark Law When Copyright Won’t Work By Brian Murphy This case involves two works by the late artist Robert Indiana. The first is the famous “LOVE” image, created by Indiana in the 1960s and...
11/11/2024 10:10:24 PM Can You Avoid Copyright Claims By Modifying Props Used in Your Ads? By Brian Murphy In Crystal Castles, the arcade game released by Atari in 1983, the player controls Bentley Bear, a bruin tasked with collecting gems...
9/30/2024 2:50:10 PM Trump in a “River of Trouble” for Infringing Copyright in Classic Isaac Hayes Song By Brian Murphy Since 2020, Donald J. Trump and his campaign organization have regularly played the Sam & Dave classic “Hold On, I’m Comin’” at campaign...
8/16/2024 2:10:40 PM Predictably, an Oral License to Use Beat Track in Song Results in Copyright Infringement Case By Brian Murphy Plaintiff Brian White is a professional musician who writes and records beat tracks that he sometimes licenses to other artists. (We Got...
6/18/2024 8:49:11 PM What the Mass Arbitration Trend Means for Your Business and Online Agreements By Zach Lewis Caren Decter Courts are paying significant attention to the enforceability of online terms of service, including the mandatory arbitration agreements...
5/29/2024 2:17:23 PM Tenth Circuit Refuses to Award Profits Under Copyright Act for Unauthorized Use of Photo in Ad By Brian Murphy I Dig Texas (IDT) and Creager Services (Creager) are competitors that sell attachments for skid steer loaders, a type of heavy machinery...
3/27/2024 4:57:30 PM Tennessee's New ELVIS Act Governs Use of Persona and AI By Dorian Thomas Last week, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act, affectionately known as the “ELVIS...
3/2/2024 11:55:51 PM Swimming Pool Parts Manufacturer Owes $15 Million for False Advertising By Kimberly Maynard Last week, a North Carolina federal jury charged Blueworks Corp., a swimming pool equipment manufacturer, with $14.7 million in damages...
1/23/2024 2:05:42 PM French Montana and the Scope of Copyright Protection for Sound Recordings vs. Compositions By Brian Murphy You have to tip your hi-hat to Eddie Lee Richardson, a/k/a Hotwire the Producer, a/k/a the plaintiff in this case. When he was 16 years...
12/29/2023 2:51:23 PM Mickey Mouse (Version 1.0) Enters the Public Domain in the U.S. By Brian Murphy So, it is happening. The animated short “Steamboat Willie,” which was released in 1928 and features an early version of Mickey Mouse,...
12/26/2023 7:46:04 PM Hallmark Holiday Movies and the Scènes à Faire Doctrine By Brian Murphy During the holidays, the television in my octogenarian parents' home toggles back-and-forth between Fox News (my father's choice) and the...