Oregon Entertainment Legal Questions

First of all, anyone being accused of copyright infringement wants to make absolutely sure, before agreeing to a settlement, and especially before paying any significant amount of money, that they are truly legally liable and have no legal defenses. I occasionally run into attorneys who very aggressively pursue cases which really have little merit, and so you want to be careful, just in cast that is your situation. Secondly, and more to the point of your question, regarding whether you can make installment payments on a settlement, sometimes the party suing will agree to that, sometimes they won't. The answer will depend on many factors, such as, just for example, how much the settlement is for, what your financial situation is, how aggressive the other party's attorney is, and so on. I would say, though, as a generalization, that in my experience, if the defendant in a copyright case is a business with some real financial wherewithal, installment payments are not that common. Whereas, if the defendant is an individual with more modest financial resources, there are certainly situations in which the agreed upon settlement amount is paid in installments.... Read More

The owner of the copyright in a creative work is the person who created that work, except under circumstances that don't seem to apply here from what you said. You cannot use their photographs without their permission - to use them is copyright infringement. However, they may be limited in how they can use the photographs if they portray you or your group under your right of publicity. Rights of publicity prohibit the use of another person's likeness or image for commercial purposes without their permission. There are exceptions to the right of publicity, and these rights and exceptions vary from state to state. Consult an attorney who is knowledgeable in these fields to see if you can prevent them from using their own photographs of you in this manner. ... Read More

Music licensing can be a particularly complex area of copyright law. Hopefully you had some sort of a contract or agreement in place with the artist. If so, you'll need to refer to that contract for your specific legal rights. Absent terms in a contract, the artist-composer maintains the copyright to music (the musical composition). The performers have a copyright in the master recording of the music. This is usually the case with copyright there are two copyrights, one for the music (the musical composition), and one for the performance of the music (the sound recording or "master record"). It's also common for two different entities to own these two different copyrights often the composer and the recording studio, respectively, although the second copyright (the master record) is initially held by the performer you should have a contract in place with your performers making it clear that the copyright for the master record belongs to you. You do need to license the musical composition from the artist. Copyright law has a mechanism called a "compulsory license". The artist cannot refuse your license, but you must pay a statutorily set fee (the amount isn't high). You will pay the artist monthly royalties (set by the statute) based on your sales. Again, this depends on whether you've signed a contract with your artist-composer. You still must abide by the terms of the contract, as must the artist-composer. I hope you also have a contract with your performers assigning the sound recording copyright to you.... Read More

While there is no copyright to simple quotes you may have a problem using the celebrity's name attached to the quote as it might give the appearance that the celebrity is endorsing the product. That would violate the celebrity's right to privacy and/or publicity, as well as their trademark. Also, if the quote is so associated and identified with a particular celebrity then its use without their permission could also violate their trademark rights. May I suggest budgeting for a one or two hour consultation with an IP lawyer in your area to make sure your business starts off on the right path.... Read More

I should say, first of all, that I am all for giving simple answers to simple questions. That being said, I know from past experience that there are usually some subtle legal complications underlying public domain situations, and more often than not, the 'devil is in the details.' Thre are also some non-public domain issues in such situations as well, for example in relation to the use to titles of prior existing works. In short, it would be foolhardy for a lawyer to try to give a useful and reliable answer without getting a lot more information, looking at a copyright database, etc. etc. Also, when there is a company like Disney holding certain rights, there are some strategic issues and approaches that are proper and legal, but which for strategic reasons are best not posted on a public website which could potentially be tracked back to you. In short, I would respectfully recommend that you consult with an attorney in your area on these issues, for the reasons given above. Best of luck to you.... Read More

The general rule is that if the artwork transforms the image of the celebrity's face or body - for example, by changing the celebrity's image to a very artistic or stylized one it is generally a permissible use. (This is sometimes referred to as a "transformative use.") As opposed to a realistic portrait of the celebrity. There are some instances in which it is questionable whether there has been sufficient "transformation" to permit the use of the celebrity's image, and in those instances there is a risk of liability. Bear in mind that even if the use is permissible, a wealthy and irate celebrity can make your life miserable even if you are in a legally strong position, just by having their representatives attempting to intimidate you. And some of these people are pretty good at intimidation. Bear in mind too that my comments above represent only a general statement of the applicable rule. There may be specific aspects of particular artwork which raise other legal issues and which could potentially in some instances create legal liability. For example, in some instances, incorporating a trademark name or logo into the artwork. And so, the comments above should not be construed as legal advice applicable to any particular situation.... Read More

A copyright troll is just someone who is very litigious and tries to sue for infringement of their copyrights. They are no different than any other individual that abuses the legal system. For example, people who abuse personal injury litigation and have fake slip-and-fall incidents. As part of your rights as a citizen, you can sue anyone that you in good faith believe has infringed your copyright. There is regulation on this type of behavior. If you bring a lawsuit without a good faith basis, you in turn can be sanctioned, sued and or fined for wasting everyone's time and money. I am not too sure about the legitimacy of "fightcopyrightrolls.com" and the author states that she is not an attorney which could explain some misconceptions. If someone is illegally stealing, using or downloading your copyrights, why should you not stop this behavior? "Demand Letters" as is discussed on your website, occurs with almost every single legal case. It is the first attempt to resolve the matter quickly, amicably and cheaply.... Read More