Oregon Entertainment Legal Questions

More than anything else, you need to learn how to run a business successfully. Take some basic business classes, talk to any local entity that supports start-up businesses, contact SCORE or a similar organization for a mentor, check out books about starting a business from the library, see if a local college or university has any programs to support entreprenours, and find someone who is doing what you want to do and ask them for advice.... Read More

You would be creating a new arrangement and that may or may not be considered a derivative work. The first point in know if something is a derivative work is whether the original songwriters can sue you for infringing on their copyright. With such a cover song, there is less likelihood that they will sue or demand removal of the song from its sales sources, because the original songwriter will be making money for each copy you make. The second issue is whether you will be able to claim your own copyright on the arrangement. The original songwriters are less likely to want you to do that and more likely to sue to stop you. You need their permission to create a derivative work on which you claim copyright. To get really good advice and legal help, take your song to one of us music lawyers and let us hear just what you are planning. A lawyer can also help you contact the publisher to either get permission or find out the publisher does not want you to change the song in any way. Knowing this in advance can save you a lot of money and trouble.... Read More

I think it is trademark and not copyright that may be of concern in this instance. Oddly enough, there are over 13,000 trademarks using USA as part of it. The risk you run is that the jacket emblem is a trademark and that the trademark owner will object to its use in your film, which will make the film unusable. It is always best in a film to avoid any logos or trademarks of any kind. If you want to create a wardrobe piece that uses USA on a jacket, have a lawyer do a little research for you to be sure you are not infringing anyone's trademark and create your own jacket. Or if you want to use an existing piece, get clearance from the trademark owner.... Read More

This entirely depends on the person's life to which the rights are being obtained. i.e., the President of the United States, or a garbage person would have a substantially different value to their life rights. There are to many variables for there to be a standard rate but rather this is the product of a negotiated value.... Read More

If you own the copyright of the video, you can file DMCA take down notice with Youtube. Log into your Youtube account, go to the video, click on the flag icon below the video, and follow the prompts to the DMCA Copyright take down. If you make a false claim, you can be sued. Can you sue the man for copyright infringement? Only if you have registered copyright with the US Copyright Office. Also, you will need to hire a lawyer to go into Copyright court, which may be quite expensive. Keep in mind, the 1.1 million views may be real, or may be paid-for fake views.... Read More

There are several facts not listed that would be helpful in determining an answer. Is this HS or college? If it is HS I do not believe that there would be any claim, unless this is a private school, who is being paid. If it is college, there could be a claim if you could show that there are no legitimate reasons for their actions. This would be difficult at best as they could always claim that who they place on varsity is subjective and they don't believe that he is ready for that level.... Read More

If the book is still protected by copyright law, you will need permission from the copyright owner to adapt it into a play. However, if the book is out of copyright or the book's subject matter is universal, you can create the play without permission. For example, the theme of star-crossed lovers is universal, resulting in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the play and movie West Side Story, and hundreds of other books, plays, movies, etc.... Read More

The New York Times Co. v. Sullivan case is a 1964 United States Supreme Court case that established the actual malice standard for defamation cases involving public officials, i.e. to be awarded damages in a defamation action, the public official/plaintiff need prove that the defendant knew his published statement about the plaintiff, as it related to the plaintiff's official conduct, was false, or that he acted with a reckless disregard as to the statement's truth or falsity. I hope that this is of some help to you.... Read More

Unless your use falls under the Fair Use Doctrine, i.e., is being used for parody, education or news then you must obtain an appropriate license. Just because it's a painting and not a tattoo or a video game or a poster it make's no difference. Changing the media in which the trademark is displayed does not alter the rights of the trademark holder to sue for infringement.... Read More

Interesting question. This comes up in other contexts, such as Fantasy Football, as well. The answer can be somewhat complex you need to watch very carefully what you do and how you do it, and for this you should consult with a lawyer, but YES, you can have a league/ladder site, if you do it CORRECTLY. Part of doing it correctly is not using materials that are prepared from or derived from protected, copyright materials of the game owner. Likewise, your website needs to make it clear you are not endorsed by the the game owner. You can make reference of the game in a simple way (just by saying what it is) and be safe under the "nominative" fair use of trademark however, again, you must avoid using copyright material or looking as though you are endorsed. Now, all this being said, many major games ENCOURAGE independent ladders and leagues and have permissive licensing for, for example, game stores to run, for example, Magic the Gathering / Street Fighter game tournaments. So, YES, you can do this if you do it carefully, but the exact details are beyond the scope of this question. You need to have a relationship with an attorney to whom you can pay a small fee to double-check what you're putting up to make sure it falls within fair use and avoids the traps of endorsement, copyright violation, etc . . . Personally, I love random and ladders/leagues. I don't mean to discourage you, just to inform you that there is a RIGHT and WRONG way to do it, and you need to make sure you do it the right way! Consult!... Read More

We don't have specific Oregon laws for poetry per se, other than the law establishing and governing the office of our State Poet Laureate. Copyright is a federal law. You have a copyright in a poem the moment you complete it. If you intend to use the poetry publicly, you should consider registering your copyright with the US Copyright office for increased protection of your work. If you are thinking of using someone else's poem, you will likely need to license the poem from its copyright holder (usually the author, sometimes a publisher).... Read More

There is a Federal Freedom of Information Act and most states also have a Freedom of Information Act. They are all slightly different. Not every record is open to the public. How you go about getting information using a FOIA depends on what you are trying to get, and if it is open to the public. Each government record-keeping body that has information that is open to the public has a process that is used. They are supposed to post or make available the rules on how to apply to get the information. In some instances, you can walk into an office and fill out a form. In other instances, you must mail a request. Find the record-keeping body from which you want records, and ask them for their FOIA guidelines and procedures. The same thing goes for a fee waiver. Ask the record-keeping agency from which you are requesting records how to apply for a fee waiver. Federal law allows a fee waiver if the information will be used in the public interest and not for commercial use. Federal Law 5 U.S.C. ? 552(a)(4)(A)(iii), defines the term "public interest" and provides: Documents shall be furnished without any charge or at a charge reduced below the fees established under clause (ii) if disclosure of the information is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester. Many people get a lawyer or legal organization to help them with FOIA requests. If you have a complicated request, you may need to do that. If you are denied information or if the agency is very slow in giving it to you, and if you believe you have a right to it, then please contact a lawyer to help you.... Read More