- 2020.05
- Posting Cover Tunes on YouTube and Other Social Media
In light of the fact that many people are podcasting their own live performances of cont ...
05/06/2020
- 2019.02
- Are parental guarantees of their child's performance enforce ...
Throughout my career, I have routinely included a parental guarantee of the child’s perfo ...
02/21/2019
- New Royalty Rates for Downloads
New Copyright Royalty Board rates became effective on February 5, 2019, retroactive to J ...
02/13/2019
- DMCA Fraudulent Takedown Notice
DMCA takedown notices for copyrighted material on the internet are made under penalty of p ...
02/13/2019
- 2019.01
- The Music Modernization Act Becomes Law
On October 11, 2018, the Music Modernization Act became law... The Act enjoined the follow ...
01/25/2019
- 2013.04
- UMG Wins Round 2 Against Grooveshark
UMG Wins Round 2 Against Grooveshark by Elliot Zimmerman, BCS, PA www.entertainmentlawyer. ...
04/24/2013
- 2013.01
- Mass Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Defense
Are you a potential defendant in a mass copyright infringement action? Record and film co ...
01/06/2013
- 2012.06
- Copyright Myths About Collages
Collage is considered fair use, and therefore not subject to copyright law. The doctrine o ...
06/10/2012
- 2011.06
- Ten Questions: Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Streami ...
Elliot Zimmerman discusses IP issues facing content creators, owners, and publishers. by ...
06/06/2011
- The CyberEntertainment Lawyer
It's no secret that all forms of entertainment have embraced and migrated to the web. Why? ...
06/06/2011
- 2011.01
- Clients In The News :: Luther Campbell for Miami Mayor 2011
NBC Miami reports that our client Luther Campbell (2 Live Crew) may run for Mayor of Miami ...
01/18/2011
- Cloud Law
Cloud Law Systems :: Cloud Law Office Practice Management and Billing Software CLOUD LAW ...
01/15/2011
- 2010.02
- Principal Sued Individually for Chilling Student's 1st Amend ...
Pembroke Pines, FL. In Katherine Evans v. Peter Bayer, US District Court for the Southern ...
02/17/2010
- 2009.12
- Toronto Radio Podcast on Cyberbullying
Toronto Radio NewsTalk 1010 host Jamie Hofing interviewed Elliot Zimmerman on Dec. 16, 200 ...
12/16/2009
- 2009.10
- Embedded Metadata Subject to Discovery
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled on Thursday, October 29, 2009, in Lake vs. City of Phoenix ...
10/31/2009
- 2009.08
- Kaleidescape Ruling Overturned
On August 12, 2009, just one day after Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled against RealNetworks ...
08/14/2009
- Judge Patel Gets Real
On August 11, 2009, Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled against RealNetworks, Inc. and RealNetW ...
08/13/2009
- No Attorneys Fees For Dismissal Of Copyright Case
In Cadkin v. Loose, 569 F.3d 1142 (9th Cir. 2009), the Ninth Circuit held that a voluntar ...
08/10/2009
- 2009.06
- Thomas Must Pay RIAA $1.92M
In the retrial of RIAA v. Thomas, the Defendant was found guilty of willful infringement o ...
06/20/2009
- Intel v. Psion Suit for Netbook Trademark Settled
On June 1, 2009, Psion stated that it and Intel had "settled the trademark cancellation an ...
06/02/2009
- 2009.04
- Google Adwords Violate Trademark Owner's Rights
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Rescuecom v. Google 06-4881-cv ruled on April 3, 20 ...
04/04/2009
- 2009.02
- Intel Files Dec Action for Use of the Mark Netbook
On February 25, 2009, Intel filed suit in the Northern District of California for a declar ...
02/25/2009
- 2008.05
- File Sharing Without Actual Download Not Actionable
On April 28, 2008, in Atlantic Recording Corp. et al. v. Howell (U.S. District Court, Ariz ...
05/03/2008
- 2008.02
- Bills to curb cyber-bullying raise free-speech concerns
By Kathleen Fitzgerald, SPLC staff writer at 2008 Student Press Law Center February 4, 200 ...
02/06/2008
- 2007.11
- Dreamworks and Paramount Sued By Beeceuticals Over Bee Movie ...
Paramount Pictures Corp. and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., makers of the animated film "B ...
11/02/2007
- 2007.09
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act
When company data is stolen or maliciously destroyed, the modern cause of action is the fe ...
09/28/2007
- 2007.08
- Truth in Music Advertising Law
On June 18, 2007, Florida joined 16 other states in passing a truth in music advertising l ...
08/23/2007
- 2007.07
- Three Hurdles to Website Owner Liability
Federal law provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be ...
07/22/2007
- TorrentSpy Ordered to Log Users' IPs
On June 27, 2007 in a copyright infringement lawsuit, Columbia Pictures Industries v. Bunn ...
07/19/2007
- 2007.05
- Son of Sam Law in FL
The "Son of Sam" Law in Florida is codified at F.S. 944.512. In Rolling v. State ex rel. ...
05/17/2007
- 2007.04
- EMI Offers Higher Quality Downloads Without DRM
EMI will be offering, at a greater price, higher quality digital music downloads without d ...
04/03/2007
- 2007.02
- Trademarks Trumped by Freedom of Speech
Click here to read the decision of the National Arbitration Forum in Homer TLC, Inc. v. Gr ...
02/27/2007
- Internet Addiction
DAXING, China - Sun Jiting spends his days locked behind metal bars in this military-run i ...
02/23/2007
- FL Scalping Law Repealed
In the summer of 2006, FL Gov. Jeb Bush (R) signed legislation that replaced the Sunshine ...
02/04/2007
- 2006.09
- Florida’s New Registration and Protection of Trademarks Act
Click here for a pdf file containing Florida’s new Registration and Protection of Trademar ...
09/16/2006
- 2006.05
- Apple Corps v. iTunes
London. Apple Computer won its courtroom battle against the Beatles on May 8, 2006 when Mr ...
05/08/2006
- 2006.01
- Federal Law Preventing CyberStalking Signed by President
On January 5, 2006, President Bush signed into law: H.R. 3402, the "Violence Against Wo ...
01/11/2006
- 2005.06
- Supreme Court Sends Grokster Back To Trial
Today the Supreme Court, in MGM v. Grokster, unanimously overturned a ruling that prevente ...
06/28/2005
- Governor Bush Signs HB1129
Governor Jeb Bush has signed HB1129 into law. This new law changes the term "television s ...
06/16/2005
- 2005.04
- House Passes Family Entertainment and Copyright Act
On April 19, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Family Entertainment and C ...
04/25/2005
- Warner Weathers Perfect Storm
Warner Brothers' portrayal of the swordboat captain "Billy" Tyne in the movie, The Perfect ...
04/23/2005
- 2005.03
- DVD-Jon Cracks iTunes Copy Protection
Jon Johansen aka DVD-Jon, who was acquitted in 2003 for developing and distributing DVD co ...
03/21/2005
- Agence France Presse Sues Google for Copyright Infringement
Agence France Presse filed suit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the District ...
03/21/2005
- Programmer Contends Motorola Violates GPL
This week an open-source programmer, Harald Welte, told Motorola and 12 other companies at ...
03/18/2005
- 2005.02
- Spector Spyware Violates State and Federal Wiretap Laws
On February 11, 2005, Florida's 5th District Court of Appeals upheld a trial court's decis ...
02/28/2005
- New FL Talent Agency Statute Proposed
Florida Senate Bill 750, submitted by State Senator Baker, removes talent agencies from DB ...
02/02/2005
- 2005.01
- First Federal Convictions for P2P File Sharing
Two men plead guilty to violating copyrights on peer-to-peer networks, marking the first f ...
01/20/2005
- Court Orders More Requirements for P2P Subpoenas
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision today that will stop entertainment c ...
01/07/2005
- 2004.12
- BeWarez!
Jathan Desir, 26, of Iowa City, pled guilty on 12/22/04 to copyright infringement and cons ...
12/30/2004
- U.S. Supreme Court to Hear MGM v. Grokster Appeal
On December 10, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court decided it will hear MGM's appeal in MGM Stud ...
12/13/2004
- Liability for CyberLibel?
In Barrett v. Rosenthal, California Supreme Court , the Supreme Court of California is pre ...
12/01/2004
- 2004.11
- Movie Studios Can't Sue File Sharers Collectively
Judge William Alsup, in Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation et al. v. Does 1-12, Case N ...
11/25/2004
- International Trademark Protection
The U.S. has been a party to the Madrid System, which allows international registration of ...
11/18/2004
- Streamcast and Grokster Brief Filed in Supreme Court
Streamcast and Grokster filed a joint brief urging the Supreme Court to let the 9th Circui ...
11/16/2004
- 2 Found Guilty of 3 Felony Spam Counts in VA
Jeremy Jaynes, 30, and his sister Jessica DeGroot, 28, both of the Raleigh, North Carolina ...
11/05/2004
- MPAA to Sue P2P Movie File Sharers
The Motion Picture Industry of America is getting to ready to launch a series of copyright ...
11/05/2004
- P2P and the Future of Private Copying
Article discussing alternative paradigms for future P2P file sharing. Read the article her ...
11/04/2004
- 2004.10
- Court Requires ISPs to Notice P2P Suspects of Subpoena
A district court in eastern Pennsylvania has issued an order forcing ISPs to first send th ...
10/29/2004
- ASCAP Gives Radio Internet Simulcast Rights
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers announced on October 18, 2004. t ...
10/20/2004
- Supreme Court Refuses To Hear Verizon Appeal
In December, 2003, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned an ea ...
10/13/2004
- Alleged Spyware Scammers Sued By FTC
In the first case filed against alleged spyware scammers, the FTC charged Seismic Entertai ...
10/10/2004
- BNetD Servers Infringe Blizzard's Copyrights
Blizzard, creator and seller of such popular computer games as "StarCraft," "StarCraft: Br ...
10/03/2004
- RIAA Files Another 762 P2P File Sharing Lawsuits
The Recording Industry Association of America ("RIAA") has filed yet another 762 P2P file ...
10/02/2004
- 2004.09
- NY District Court Strikes Music Bootlegging Law
U.S. District Judge Harold Baer Jr. dismissed a federal indictment of Jean Martignon, who ...
09/26/2004
- De Minimus Sampling Illegal
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals (TN) held digital sampling of a sound recording, no matte ...
09/12/2004
- 2004.08
- RIAA Files 744 More P2P File Sharing Lawsuits
8.26.04. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed an additional 744 ...
08/27/2004
- Justice Department Raids P2P File Sharers
FBI agents raided residences throughout the USA yesterday which were hubs for the "Undergr ...
08/26/2004
- What's GNU?
By Elliot Zimmerman, Attorney At Law, Fort Lauderdale, FLThe GNU (“Generally Not Unix”) Ge ...
08/24/2004
- 9th Circuit Affirms Grokster Not Infringer
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in MGM v. Grokster et al. declares defendants ...
08/20/2004
- RIAA v. Doe Form Settlement Agreement
Click Here for RIAA's Form Doe Settlement Agreement in a Music File Sharing Direct Copyrig ...
08/05/2004
- Defenses to P2P Direct Copyright Infringement
Procedural and Evidentiary Considerations in Music File Sharing Direct Copyright Infringem ...
08/05/2004
- 2004.06
- Representatives Consider Overturning DMCA
Wired reports that U.S. representatives are worried that the Digital Millenium Copyright A ...
06/23/2004
- DirecTV Can't Sue For Mere Possession
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Case No. 03-15313, rules that DirecTV cann ...
06/20/2004
- 2004.05
- Deceptive Subject Line Emails Illegal in FL
On Tuesday, May 25, 2004, Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed bill (SB 2574) giving the attor ...
05/27/2004
- 2004.03
- Big Brother Wants to Wiretap the Internet
On Friday, March 13, 2004, the FBI requested the FCC to force ISPs, broadband and dsl prov ...
03/14/2004
- ISPs File Federal Suits Against Spammers
CNN reports that AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo and Earthlink have joined forces and filed 6 federa ...
03/11/2004
- RIAA Can't Sue 203 File Sharers Collectively
Last month, a federal trial court in Philadelphia ruled that the Recording Industry Associ ...
03/09/2004
- MP3 Developers Adding Digital Rights Management
Thomson and Fraunhofer, the companies that license and own the patents to MP3 digital musi ...
03/02/2004
- DVD DeCSS Code Can Be Published
A California appeals court today overturned as unconstitutional a 1999 trade secret injunc ...
03/02/2004
- 2004.02
- Voluntary Collective Licensing
In an effort to resolve the music file sharing dilemma, the EFF is urging the music indust ...
02/26/2004
- February 24, 2004 aka Grey Tuesday
DJ Danger Mouse's "Grey Tuesday," which is an album that contains massive sampled musical ...
02/24/2004
- Court Bans Distribution of DVD Copy Technology
On February 19, 2004, a San Francisco federal court granted MGM''s motion for a preliminar ...
02/23/2004
- Parody of a Musical Composition
Is parody a viable defense to claimed copyright infringement of a purely musical compositi ...
02/18/2004
- California Prohibits Recording Agreements > 7 Years
According to Cal. Lab. Code §2855, "a contract to render personal service...may not be enf ...
02/12/2004
- Factual Compliance with DMCA Required for Safe Harbor
ELLISON v. AOL, No. 02-55797 (9th Cir. February 10, 2004)Summary judgment to Defendant, in ...
02/11/2004
- Safe Harbors, DMCA Protects Web Site Owners
The DMCA limits liability of web site owners who are unaware that infringing material is c ...
02/03/2004
- Grokster Appeal Day (2-3-4)
Fred Von Lohmann, Senior Staff Attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), was q ...
02/03/2004
- 2004.01
- Possible Technical Defense Against P2P Infringement Claims
It is technically possible for hackers to feign an IP address. A while back, Intel branded ...
01/27/2004
- Extending Verizon to RIAA v. Charter Communications
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and 21 other consumer and privacy groups today si ...
01/27/2004
- Musicians' Alliance Proposes Direct Sales of Music Online
Rock veterans Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno are launching a provocative new musicians' allia ...
01/27/2004
- RIAA Files Music Suits Against 532 Unnamed Defendants
The Recording Industry Association of America launched its largest wave of file-swapping l ...
01/22/2004
- Report to Congress - Kazaa can block access to copyrighted w ...
A group of technology experts issued a statement to the U.S. Congress on 1.13.04 expressi ...
01/19/2004
- Supreme Court Denies Aimster's Appeal 1.12.04
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Aimster's appeal of the adverse decision at 334 F.3d 643, 6- ...
01/14/2004
- P2P File Sharing and Copyright Infringement
By Elliot M. Zimmerman Some view the internet as an abandoned warehouse filled with free ...
01/11/2004
- 2003.12
- President Signs CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
The enrolled (final) text of S. 877 as it was passed by the Senate on November 25, 2003, ...
12/24/2003
- "DVD-Jon" Acquittal Upheld
An appeals court in Oslo, Norway, upheld Jon Lech Johansen's earlier acquittal on all cou ...
12/24/2003
- Dutch Supreme Court Rules for Kazaa
Read the article here. See 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(2) et seq. to learn how an ISP may insulate i ...
12/24/2003
- RIAA May Not Subpoena ISP Verizon
The recording industry can't force Internet providers to identify music downloaders, a fed ...
12/23/2003
- P2P Downloading Legal In Canada
Downloading copyrighted music from peer-to-peer networks is legal in Canada, although uplo ...
12/15/2003
- Online Music To Boom in 2004
Online music piracy isn't likely to vanish soon, but the rise of paid online services and ...
12/11/2003
- 2003.11
- CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
On 11/25/03, the Senate passed the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which will preempt state law when ...
11/28/2003