Trademark and Copyright Infringement
One Lawyer’s On the Job Training
By: Howard E. King, Esq.
King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner
Los Angeles, California 90067
I.
My Background and The Good Fortune of Meeting Mel Nimmer
II.
From Swap Meets to Server Farms and Cloud Computing – Copyright
Practice Accelerated by the Internet
III.
A.
Warp speed dissemination of pirated materials
B.
Immediate notice of infringements
C.
The ultimate business generation tool, websites devoted to tattling on
samplers: www.whosampled.com
Napster Crystallizes A New World Order
A.
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Background of involvement with the Category 5 hurricane created by
Napster
1.
RIAA complaint meanders in background
2.
Metallica/Dr. Dre awake the media (“I Disappear”; “2001”)
3.
Lessons learned
(a)
DMCA Notices come in multiple forms
(b)
You can’t rent an armored car
(c)
You can’t get rich from a soiled handkerchief (at least
pre-TMZ)
(d)
Universities balance economics and politics, with a dash of
law
B.
Warnings to All; Involvement of None
1.
Other musicians
2.
Television and movies
C.
From the studio to Time magazine to Congress
D.
Injunction Unsurprising - Fonovisa Swap Meet in Cyberspace
Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc.,76 F.3d 259 (9th Cir. 1996)
1.
E.
IV.
Exhibits
1.
Metallica v. Napster complaint
2.
A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir.
2001)
Can the Pornographers Save Copyright Owners While Television and Movie
Producers Fiddle?
A.
Perfect 10, Inc. v. Visa International Association
1.
Exhibit
(a)
V.
Perfect 10, Inc. v. Visa International Association, 494 F.3d
788 (9th cir. 2007)
The Internet Stimulates the Copyright Litigation Business
A.
Satriani v. Coldplay
1.
A YouTube Phenomenon
2.
Exhibits
(a)
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Joe Satriani v. Christopher Martin, et al. complaint
2
VI.
VII.
Copyrights in an Election Year
A.
Joe Walsh v. Joe Walsh
B.
Don Henley v. Chuck Devore
C.
Exhibits
1.
Dan Henley Cease and Desist
2.
Joe Walsh (the musician) Cease and Desist
3.
Joe Walsh (the candidate) response
4.
District Court Order in Henley case
Trademark Issues Near and Dear
A.
Rolling Stone enters into the merchandise business
B.
Wolfgang’s Vault; is possession 9/10th of the law?
C.
Exhibits
D.
1.
F.E.A. Merchandising v. Wenner Media complaint
2.
Montana v. San Jose Mercury News, Inc. 24 Cal.App.4th 490
(1995)
THX
VIII. Particular Challenges of Litigating Copyright Cases
A.
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Handicaps of a famous musician with music that might not be jury-friendly
1.
“Your Honor, is it really, really necessary for these jurors to
listen to the song?”
2.
What instruction can you give a juror with lyrics like these?
3
3.
Skewed damages exposure in music copyright cases
(a)
4.
Exhibits
(a)
Lyrics
(b)
Voir Dire
5.
Influence of the internet on the ultimate result
B.
Could Michael Jackson have ever won a civil case?
C.
Is TMZ the new mainstream medium?
1.
Sue them and use them
D.
Robert Murdoch hails the death of the “fair use defense” unless Fox is the
“fair user”
E.
Exhibits
1.
F.
F. Marc Schaffel Productions, LLC v. Fox News complaint
Axl Rose v. The World
1.
IX.
Typical damage analysis
“Ask Axl” becomes another internet tool for lawyers
If I Haven’t Run Out of Time
A.
Andre Young pka Dr. Dre. v. Wideawake Death Row Entertainment LLC
1.
Exhibit
(a)
2.
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Dismissal of trademark claims
Configuration issues at stake
4
B.
X.
The Role of Prior Art
1.
Chrysler
2.
La Grange – Midas Muffler
Summary
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5
Trademark and Copyright Infringement
One Lawyer’s On the Job Training
By: Howard E. King, Esq.
King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner
Los Angeles, California 90067
EXHIBITS FOR PRESENTATION
1.
Metallica v. Napster complaint
2.
A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)
3.
Perfect 10, Inc. v. Visa International Association, 494 F.3d 788 (9th Cir. 2007)
4.
Joe Satriani v. Chris Martin complaint
5.
Don Henley Cease and Desist (Chuck Devore)
6.
Joe Walsh (the musician) Cease and Desist
7.
Joe Walsh (the candidate) response
8.
District Court Order in Henley v. Devore case
9.
F.E.A. Merchandising v. Wenner Media complaint
10.
Montana v. San Jose Mercury News, Inc., 24 Cal.App.4th 490 (1995)
11.
“Let’s Get High” Lyrics
12.
Young adv. Minder Music Voir Dire
13.
F. Marc Schaffel Productions, LLC v. Fox News complaint
14.
Young v WideAwake - Decision dismissing trademark claims
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