Virginia Intellectual Property Legal Questions

Under Virginia law, when analyzing a party's obligations to a contract, you must look to the four corners of the agreement.  In other words, without seeing the entire contract, no one is going to be able to answer the question accurately.  That said, without providing legal advice, I suspect that your contract likely only relates to the subject matter of your employment and that your employer would; 1. not be interested in your fantasy novel, and 2. probably will never know you are writing one.  That said, they could make a claim based on the limited language you have cited.  If, for example, you turn out to be a modern-day JRR Tolkein, they could sue you, claiming you wrote your book on the company dime (and time), and thus the work is owned by the company.  The safest thing to do is get explicit permission in writing from the company in writing, confirming that they relinquish all claims to your particular work of authorship.  Finally, do not forget to file a copyright application for your work.  ... Read More

You ask a very good question, so my answer will not be so black and white, but I think that this might help you.  Note that my response will touch upon the legal issues only and not any ethical issues regarding plagiarism.  A “public domain” work is one that is not protected by copyright law and can therefore be used by anyone without legal consequence.  There is a common misconception that just because a work is available online, it qualifies as public domain.  In your case, however, it is generally accepted that federal and state legal decisions are in the public domain.  Please be mindful that any annotations, headers, or summaries added by commercial publishers like Westlaw are subject to copyright protection, so if any material like that was used, then you would need permission from that commercial publisher.     When one uses a public domain work, the status of that underlying public domain work does not change—it will always be public domain.  Your association has copyright protection in your publication’s article as a whole as well as all parts that did not come from the appellate court decision, but your association will be unable to prevent others from excerpting the public domain material from your article.        ... Read More

High school Bachelor's Degree Law Degree   Get the bachelor's degree in a subject you enjoy. Many people will steer you toward English or Political Science. Those subjects may help you get a little bit of a head start preparing for law school, but you are better off studying a subject you enjoy, in which you can get good grades, and stand out a bit with your own identity.  Unless your bachelor's degree lacks credibility, law schools only care about seeing someone who is passionate about what they do. Good luck, Todd  ... Read More

You ask a lot of questions Donna. I gave this answer to a friend earlier this week and to another Q&A visitor earlier today. 17 USC 201(b) states: In the case of a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author for purposes of this title, and, unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them, owns all of the rights comprised in the copyright. The employer can show that a work is made for hire by establishing that it was (1) created by an employee (2) acting within the scope of the employment relationship. 17 U.S.C.A. Sec. 101  In this wonderfully outdated use of language, if you are an employee, you are a servant: http://elephantcircle.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/restatement-second-of-agency.pdf. Look specifically at Section 228. 17 USC 201(b) and that Section 228 define are the foundation of your answers. A presentation can be copyrightable. And labor law as well as any contract between you and your employer may color how this situation is analyzed. Answers to these questions require fact specific analysis and probably means talking to an attorney if you do not feel comfortable doing the analysis on your own. Good luck, Todd... Read More

I assume you are asking if it is ok because you are operating outside of Microsoft's standard channels. If you purchase a copy of a copyrighted work and lose your copy, your purchase does not give you license to make another copy to replace your lost copy. When you had the purchased copy, you would have been permitted to make a back up and restore or transfer the back-up, but when you lose possession that ends your licensed opportunities. You can try to explain your issue to a Microsoft vendor and see if they will give you a copy for free, but I would not expect that to be a fruitful exercise. Good luck, Todd... Read More

No. If you register your copyright either: 1) before infringement; or 2) after infringement, but within 3 months of first publication, you have the right to collect: 1) statutory damages; and 2) attorney fees. If you register your copyright after infringement and more than 3 months after first publication, you can still collect 'actual damages' and obtain an injunction. Actual damages would need to be calculated based on your lost revenue or the profits of the infringer. When copyright infringement claims are brought by someone who registered in advance of the infringement, all of the above options are available, and it is more likely that the copyright holder seeks statutory damages and attorney fees.... Read More

Probably not. Under the United States Copyright Act, the author of an original "work of authorship" or the copyright owner of that work has the right to, among other things, make "derivative works" of the original work. A "derivative work" is a new work that is based on an existing work. For example, a motion picture based on a book would be a derivative work of the book.  Making a derivative work of an existing work without permission of the author or copyright owner of the original work is copyright infringement. There are situations under the doctrine of "fair use" where you can use an existing work without infringing the copyright, for example where the original work is "recast" or "transformed" sufficiently. That is an extremely fact intensive question and is impossible to judge without knowing more details. Even then, it would be a judgment call and a copyright owner may still object - and a judge may agree with the copyright owner.... Read More

If the photographs were not taken by you, you should not publish them.  But for certain exceptions, if you do not own the copyright to works of authorship that you are publishing, you will be infringing the copyright owner's rights.  This information should not be considered legal advice for your specific circumstances and are offered only as general information on the topic of your question.  This should not be relied upon as legal advice and Sills Cummis and Gross does not represent you until you have signed a retainer letter from us. Philip Braginsky Sills Cummis and Gross http://www.sillscummis.com/practice/practice_group.asp?id=28... Read More