Michigan Intellectual Property Legal Questions

It looks like the publisher stole your idea:  you need to prove the submission and their interest this is a very tough case to win as a budding author myself looking to get published, I definitely understand the anger and pain you must feel regarding this. feel free to be in touch, if I can help, I will.... Read More

If your contract makes your work product their intellectual property, you can keep a copy but you must return the thumb drive to them. If the contract does not say that, in theory, the materials on the disk are yours. If they have breached their agreement with you, you will need an employment law attorney to hold them accountable.   good luck... Read More

Just about every commercial movie is the copyrighted property of someone. Copyrights last 100 years! Usually, the credits tells you who made it. Using others' intellectual property without permission can have serious consequences, so be careful. Not sure there is anyone one database for films but IMDB is pretty extensive.... Read More

The copyright in a work grants several separate rights to the owner of the copyright. Mere ownership of a work does not give the owner of the work the right to reproduce that work. Since the artist in this case is deceased, you would need to contact owner of the copyright in the work of art (which may or may not be the heirs of the artist) to acquire the right to reproduce it. This presumes that the work of art is not old enough for the copyright in the work to have expired, for example, a work created in the 19th century or earlier, in which case you would be free to make copies.... Read More

Copyright requires more than just similarity, it requires actual copying. The burden is on the copyright own to prove that your designer has aware of the accusor's design. You first question is to ask your designer whether or not he know of the accusor's design. If he did not and the accusor's design is not so well known that the designer would have to have known of it, the accusor has no legitimate case and you should have your designer tell him so. Without seeing the two designs, it would be impossible for me to know whether or not one looks like a copy of the other.  If your designer was aware of the accusor's design, you should ask him to re-design your logo without the similar parts and cover your expense in repackaging your product.... Read More

Yes, you can definitely sue under multitheories of libility here (especially since it's a minor.)  We sell package called the Five Pillars of Protection that we can use to provide answers to your situation and provide you legal counseling on what is and is not fair use or copyright infringment.  I'll be able to guide you through how to enforce your rights, provide takedown notices, etc. Looking forward to your reply. -Paul Roberts, Protect it! IP Contact info... Read More

Here's the book I use, which you may be able to purchase or find at a local law library: http://www.amazon.com/Drafting-Patent-License-Agreements-Seventh/dp/1617461210/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=1-3&keywords=brunsvold . It includes a sample agreement and various language you may wish to use as well as the situations in which the language is appropriate. Good luck, Todd... Read More

Copyrights are for artistic works (e.g., sculptures, books, music, etc.). The name of a product cannot be protected by a copyright. Trademarks protect the name of a product. When you begin selling a product using a trademark, you gain common law trademark rights. Those rights are closely limited to the chosen trademark for the goods sold in the geography in which the product is sold. If a second company begins selling the same goods in the same geography using the same name, they can be sued for infringing the common law trademark rights. Original content in copyrights are normally used to differentiate derivative works. Stephen King wrote Carrie. Then, a movie was made based on the story. The movie has some content that was entirely from the book and some that was original content. A copyright on the movie normally only protects the original content.... Read More

17 USC 201(d)(1) allows copyrights to be passed intestate. If you do not have a contract explaining that the rights should be conveyed to you, then you should seek out counsel proficient in wills & estates (intellectual property counsel do not get involved in this area). If an heir has the co-author's rights to the work, you are allowed to make the decision to publish unilaterally, but you must share the proceeds 50/50 with the heir.... Read More

It is illegal to copy copyrighted works without a license and/or permission from the owner. Whether you pay a fee or not does not matter if the person allowing you to download the movie did not have the right to allow you to download the movie. I can't tell you from the facts in the question whether you downloaded something illegally. If you downloaded a copy of Iron Man 3 for free, it was most likely illegal. If you downloaded someone's home movie, it is possible the owner authorized the download. Similarly, I watched an episode of Brooklyn Ninety-Nine online for free - it is not uncommon for new television series to be made available for free online. If the information available to you at the time of download make it unreasonable for you to believe you had permission from the owner, you could be liable for illegally copying the movie.... Read More

If you have a licensing agreement with ABC LLC, first and foremost, I would encourage you to review the license and see if the terms of publicly disclosing the licensing the agreement are discussed. Often, a licensor has specific language they want you to use and any variation on that language could create a breach of contract issue. That said, there is no magic language that is appropriate. More elaborate language might be useful if you are trying to sell your product off of the goodwill of ABC LLC (e.g., Official Licensed Product of ABC), whereas if you are only looking to make it clear that your product will fit/accessorize with the ABC toy, something simple avoids overshadowing your brand (e.g., Licensed by ABC LLC).  If you are an exclusive licensee, you may want to insert that 'exclusive' term in there as well, as it lets consumers know you don't have a licensed competitor.... Read More

i am sure you expected this answer: you need to speak with a "practical" trademark lawyer with experience in trademarks who knows how these matters ususally resolve. Perhaps hiring the attorney on a limited basis to see if you can arrange for concurrent use of the allegedly confusing mark would be of value.... Read More

You did not provide enough information to provide any advice. Did they identify the work that you allegedly copied? If so, did you copy it and if you copied it, for what purpose? However, if you have been engated in the alleged illegal action, at a minimum you should immediately discontinued doing so and respond indicating that you have done so and agree not to resume such action. Such may be sufficient to placate the copyright owner without their instituting legally action to recover a small amount of money.... Read More

As a general matter, the owner of a copyright may preclude any copying of the copyrighted items, or may allow limited copying. There is an ongoing and unresolved feud in this field regarding whether clothing made from copyrighted patterns infringes the patterns -- since clothing is generally deemed to be a "useful article" and not a work of authorship. The copyright owner may certainly communicate the fact of its copyright to any web-site operator and request the operator to take down putatively infringing material; whether the operator does so is a business decision for the operator.... Read More