California Copyrights Legal Questions

Please be aware that the US Copyright Office's current position on Artificial Intelligence is that human authorship is required. What this means is that while the Copyright Office will accept works in which you have used AI as a tool, it will not accept works where AI has created the expressive content. In other words, if you have written your own music and instructed AI to modify the music in some way, that is likely registrable. If instead you provided some textual prompt to the AI and had it generate music based solely on your instructions, then that is likely not registrable. Obviously there is a complicated gray area in between those, but to the extent that your creative contributions cannot be separted from those of the AI, the work will be ineligible for registration.   Please also be aware that there are two types of music copyrights available. The "musical work" covers the song's composition and lyrics, usually created by a songwriter or composer. The "sound recording" is the actual recorded song, usually created by the performer or the producer. In either case, you would need to specify in the copyright registration application the portions of the work that you created yourself that are original to you, and the portions that you did not create. As mentioned above, to the extent that the AI tool generated the "music" (either the composition or the actual sound), you would not be able to claim authorship. ... Read More

Trademarks function as a source identifier of goods and/or services. Trademark represents the quality of goods and/or services. You cannot replace a trademark label from a water bottle corporation, and replace it with your own firm label for internal marketing purposes. Although you may get away with it because it is internal use, it is not legal. You may be destroying the goodwill of the trademark. Trademark insignia is present not only on the label but also on the inside of the cap. You may become liable for trademark infringement if the water bottle corporation becomes aware of your use. It would be in your best interest to stay away from replacing labels of a trademark on a product. Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

In the United States, once you publish your "original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression," it is copyright eligible. See 17 U.S.C. § 102 (a). You do not need to register in the United States to claim copyright ownership. However, copyright registration gives extra protection and additionally legal rights in the form of statutory damages in federal court litigation.  Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

You cannot make a brand with a similar name/ logo for your business purposes. This will cause a likelihood of confusion between someone's registered trademark or a common-law senior mark with your new mark. You may get sued for trademark infringement. Your question has nothing to do with copyright. Copyright only protects the original work of authorship.  It is generally recommended that you pursue a trademark search before you plan to use a brand name or logo.    Disclaimer: The response is general in nature and cannot be construed as legal advice. If you would like to have legal advice, then please consult any competent attorney privately to discuss your case and establish a proper attorney-client relationship. I only work through my website at https://affordabletrademarkattorney.com/... Read More

The approach here would depend upon the situation.  You say the former member owned the website, but who owns the domain name, and do you need to own it?  You say when people inqure about the club, the old website pops up, but is that because the domain name is so similar to the name of the yacht club that it is coming up such that you should own the domain name?  If the former member owns the domain name, have you asked the former member to transfer the domain name ownership to the yacht club?  Once you own the domain name, you can build or transfer any website onto it.  Typically, folks have someone create a website for them to be placed at the domain name they own, but that doesn't mean that you lose ownership of the underlying domain name.  If you own the domain name, you can change the website that sits on it at will.  If the former member does in fact own the domain name and you want to own it, there are a few options, ranging from a non-adversarial transfer of ownership to a formal dispute proceeding, if you can show that the use infringes a trademark right of the yacht club, is being used in bad faith, and the former member has no legitimate interest in it.  It depends on former member's stance.  If you don't need to own the domain name but just want the website content that resides there removed, then if you have a good faith belief that it infringes your copyright, you can try a DMCA takedown notice to the host. DMCA agents will usually also take content down for trademark infringement, though the statute technically applies only to copyright infringement.... Read More

The standard for trademark infringement is whether a mark is confusingly similar to another mark already in use for the same or related goods and services.  Might a potential consumer encountering goods and services under the LuLaRoom trademark be confused about whether the goods and services are being offered by the company that owns the LuLaRoe trademark? In addition to trademark infringement, if the other mark is "famous," one may also have to worry about trademark dilution, i.e., does the mark have a "blurring" effect on the famous mark's reputation, or does it tend to "tarnish" the reputation of the famous mark.  The goods and services offered under the two marks don't necessarily have to be the same or similar for a dilution claim to succeed.  ... Read More

Ideas themselves are not entitled to copyright protection; only original works of authorship that have been fixed in some tangible form of expression are protected by copyright law.  It may be possible to protect ideas from being exploited by others through a non-disclosure and non-competition agreement, if the other party to which you plan to communicate the idea is willing to sign one.... Read More