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London. Apple Computer won its courtroom battle against the Beatles on May 8, 2006 when Mr. Jusitce Mann found no breach of a 1991 out-of-court settlement agreement between Apple Computer and Apple Corps, which included a $26 million payment by Apple Computer and set out areas in which each party would have exclusive use of their respective logos. The Court ruled that Apple Computer’s iTunes was primarily a data transmission service and permitted by the Continue reading Apple Corps v. iTunes→

On January 5, 2006, President Bush signed into law: H.R. 3402, the “Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005,” which reauthorizes the Violence Against Women Act for years 2007-2011, makes amendments to criminal and immigration law, consolidates major law enforcement grant programs and authorizes appropriations for the Department of Justice for years 2006-2009. According to “TITLE I–ENHANCING JUDICIAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT TOOLS TO COMBAT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, Section 113. Preventing Cyberstalking Continue reading Federal Law Preventing CyberStalking Signed by President→

Today the Supreme Court, in MGM v. Grokster, unanimously overturned a ruling that prevented the music industry and others from suing internet services used by consumers to swap songs and movies for free. “One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright … is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device’s lawful uses,” wrote Justice David Souter. The case Continue reading Supreme Court Sends Grokster Back To Trial→

Governor Jeb Bush has signed HB1129 into law. This new law changes the term “television series” to “television programming” for purposes of defining the term “entertainment industry” and revises the program under which certain persons producing, or providing services for production of filmed entertainment are eligible for state financial incentives for activities in or relocated to this state, inter alia. The application for Florida’s Entertainment Industry Financial Incentive is now available at www.filminflorida.com. If you Continue reading Governor Bush Signs HB1129→

On April 19, 2005, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005. The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Bush. Read S.167 here. “TITLE I–ARTISTS’ RIGHTS AND THEFT PREVENTION” makes the following acts criminal violations: a) unauthorized recording of motion pictures at a motion picture facility, and/or b) infringing a work being prepared for commercial distribution. “TITLE II–EXEMPTION FROM INFRINGEMENT FOR SKIPPING AUDIO AND VIDEO Continue reading House Passes Family Entertainment and Copyright Act→

Warner Brothers’ portrayal of the swordboat captain “Billy” Tyne in the movie, The Perfect Storm, did not violate the rights of his heirs under F.S. 540.08, Florida’s statute regarding unauthorized pulbication of name or likeness. On April 21, 2005, the Florida Supreme Court ruled against Appellants/Plaintiffs in Tyne v. Warner, Case No. SC03-1251, because “… the term ‘commercial purpose’ as used in section 540.08(1) does not apply to publications, including motion pictures, which do not Continue reading Warner Weathers Perfect Storm→

Jon Johansen aka DVD-Jon, who was acquitted in 2003 for developing and distributing DVD copy protection code in 1999, has done it again. This time he has developed a Windows interface for purchasing and decrypting songs from iTunes. Apple is in the process of preparing its response. Read the full article at CNET here. Read a realted article at CNET here.

Agence France Presse filed suit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, March 17, 2005, alleging that Google includes its photos, news headlines and stories at Google.com without permission.

This week an open-source programmer, Harald Welte, told Motorola and 12 other companies at the CeBit trade show in Hannover, Germany, that he believes they’re using Linux in violation of the general public license that governs the software. Read the CNET article here. Welte has gone to bat for this issue before and stated he’s settled more than 25 cases so far. Additionally, he’s won two rounds in a court case against one company, Sitecom, Continue reading Programmer Contends Motorola Violates GPL→

On February 11, 2005, Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeals upheld a trial court’s decision to suppress captured real time communications in O’Brien v. O’Brien, Case Number 5D03-3484, a dissolution of marriage case. The use of Spector software or other spyware to monitor real time chats and/or communications on a computer without all parties’ consent constitutes an illegal intercept under Florida’s Security of Communications Act (Chapter 934) as well as the Federal Wiretap Act found Continue reading Spector Spyware Violates State and Federal Wiretap Laws→