http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/ Information about rights to intangible property that is the product of innovation and creative processes, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights. en Tue, 21 May 2013 22:27:46 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/images/misc/rss.png http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/ http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158744&goto=newpost Tue, 21 May 2013 16:07:40 GMT yes I was planning on making a video on youtube to help people realize its ok to be gay and I was also gonna incorporate celebrities into it cause... yes I was planning on making a video on youtube to help people realize its ok to be gay and I was also gonna incorporate celebrities into it cause some people who don't know there favorite stars are gay might say hey my favorite celeb is gay or supports gays so I can have courage to be gay now or and support them so I am going to have like a slideslow while music plays on there and have celebrities pics roll by and quotes they have said regarding coming out or gay support and I was wondering is this legal copyright wise and also the biggest star at the end will be the biggest gay marriage supporter of all president barack obama ]]> Intellectual Property dancingwiththestarsfan http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158744 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158591&goto=newpost Sat, 18 May 2013 13:07:56 GMT In 2007 I came up with the name of an animated show I wanted to make. I made a youtube channel for it as well [I have a screenshot of the account and the date of joining]. It was just an idea back then but I would like to explore it further and hopefully post some videos online. I found after 2007 that there was a DJ group with the same name, for the sake of this question called 'Soap Dope' in another country, made independently. I've done some google searches of dj name from 2000-07 and nothing comes up, but the group does appear from 2008 onwards. Would I be able to have copyright to the name if I changed it to say 'The Soap Dope' or 'The Soap Dope: the animated series' for example? I also recently made a twitter account for this and had it verified. ]]> Intellectual Property Thuks http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158591 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158541&goto=newpost Fri, 17 May 2013 06:55:24 GMT I make music and make beats and I wanted to know if my stage name can be AR15 ? I make music and make beats and I wanted to know if my stage name can be AR15 ? ]]> Intellectual Property Roberto Ayax http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158541 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158379&goto=newpost Mon, 13 May 2013 20:20:32 GMT Just have a quick question regarding selling on a website. Are you able to sell X product on your website without being an authorized retailer?... Just have a quick question regarding selling on a website.

Are you able to sell X product on your website without being an authorized retailer? For example, can you sell an iPod Touch on your website assuming you are not using TM logos or anything of the sort? Images would be uploaded with a picture of the product whether it be a stock photo or a photo of the actual item.

Just wondering since it seems anyone can sell them on E-bay and wanted to see if I could start up a website doing this. ]]> Intellectual Property salmanpasta http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158379 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158339&goto=newpost Sun, 12 May 2013 16:22:34 GMT A community Facebook page appeared a few months ago of our local town which is a tourist town. It's contents were local scenic and old photographs of the town. I messaged the page admin asking if they were his photos as they were pretty good pics. I never received a reply. The page attracted 1000's of likes and there are now 1000's of photos on it. While browsing the page a few months ago I noticed a couple of my photos had been copied to the page and had quite a lot of likes for them. There was no reference to me with the post as the owner of the images, although my signature was on the pic. I had not given permission for it to be posted. I commented under the photo that it was mine. As I assumed it was a community page, I didn't think the pic was there for financial gain by the owner of the page, so just tagged myself in it hoping people would realise it was mine. I do sell my images from my own FB business page.

After a while I noticed that the page had added a local photographers images in albums with links to their website. I messaged the page admin to ask if I could have an album of my images added to the page. I received a reply asking for a 200 word biography, with link to my website or page, 10 photos of our town, and they wanted me to e-mail them 6 photos percweek of our town for them to add to the album they would create on the page. They never disclosed their identity, and I thought as a community page promoting our local town was a bit odd.

Anyway after having a think about it I decided not to send them my details or any photos. My two copied images were still on the page. I noticed a couple more local photographers albums appearing on the page. I then suspected that the page creators were posting possible copyright images more than likely taken from the web on a daily basis, with some having watermarks on them and some not having any on them. The local photographers would be getting a lot of clicks on their albums as the page had acquired over a 1000 likes in a short space of time. Last week a photo of our town was posted on the page, which was owned by my husband. We think they may have copied it from his Instagram account. We commented under the photo to say how surprised we were to see it posted without his knowledge or consent. The comments were promptly deleted by the page, and we found we had been blocked from further commenting. Friends of ours also commented that it was my husbands pic, which were also promptly deleted and they too were blocked from further commenting. The page admin then posted a comment asking for husband to contact them direct by private message to ask their permission to add an album with his photos in it. They then promptly deleted the comment. Another comment appeared saying they could post any image they wanted to the page as they are freely available on Google +, then put an expletive comment telling my husband where to go!! I print screened that comment as was shocked by it. They immediately removed my husbands photo. It had generated over 80 likes.

I decided I didn't want my photos associated with the page due too the hostile and abusive page admins response, and emailed them to ask them to take my photos off their page, and that they had no right to have copied my images to the page without my written permission. I also googled their e-mail address and it appeared to be connected to a SEO company in the US and several profile identities for web page tools and internet traffic forums, with one stating they were a webmaster.

They replied saying they had passed on my email to their "competent local authorities" and would be contacting a legal consultant. They said they had been instructed not to reply to my "stalking" and "threatening" emails. I had simply stated that I wanted my images removed and that I was going to take legal advice with regards to copyright infringement on Facebook.

They didn't remove my images, so I reported the page to FB and they removed them for me.

If they have been charging local photographers to promote their businesses on the popular page using possible copyright images, would I be able to ask for payment for the use of my images for the two months they appeared on it? I did print screen my images before FB took them off for me showing the date they added them with the date of printing off showing too.

They are still adding (I suspect are copied) images from web on the page daily. ]]> Intellectual Property Annjay8 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158339 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158281&goto=newpost Sat, 11 May 2013 02:26:59 GMT Hey guys. Recently I wrote a book. I hired two contractors. One contractor made some artwork for the book, and another contractor recorded an... Hey guys.

Recently I wrote a book.

I hired two contractors. One contractor made some artwork for the book, and another contractor recorded an audio version of the book.

I ordered these on a fiverr.com.

The real question is; who owns those pictures and audio work now?

If I self publish the book and it becomes successful, can those people come after me for a cut of the revenue generated or take any sort of legal action? Or is the contractual nature of outsourced work indicative that I own the rights?

Finally, would a mere text message indicating that I own the work be evidence enough if the contractors acknowledge that I own the work?

Thanks for your thoughts. ]]> Intellectual Property StormBlue http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158281 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158074&goto=newpost Sun, 05 May 2013 20:20:55 GMT Hello, I'm in a band that for this example I'll call "The Insufferable Monkeys". We're doing great so far, and have some potential to "make it," but we are concerned about getting sued over the name. I know Nirvana got sued by some band in Germany over their name, and we'd like to avoid that issue. For this example, there is an older band from the 80s who were very successful called "Insufferable Monkey." They were 80s country, and we are indie folk...different, but vaguely similar. My question is, how likely are we to get sued by Insufferable Monkey? Is our name different enough being plural and with "the" in front? The Insufferable Monkeys haven't released any new material in quite some time, but they ARE still touring some. Thanks! ]]> Intellectual Property bendavis840 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158074 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158050&goto=newpost Sun, 05 May 2013 01:02:40 GMT Hello,

I've been reading quite a bit on the fair use law. Particularly in regards to using images in blogs. Despite reading everything under the sun I still have questions that are not answered. I understand that the fair use law is a very gray area and it's impossible to get a definitive answer, but I'm hoping you guys can give me your opinion.

Our blog is located here. Our content comes in a variety of forms including reviews, opinions, news updates, and more.

So here are a few of the questions I have...

1. Using official covers for book and comic book reviews generally fall under fair use? At least that's what I gathered from reading various articles.

2. What about user created images for our reviews? Lets say I'm doing a review for an Avengers comic. I've found an Avengers image on google (most likely made by a fan, with the artist being unknown) and I would rather us it instead of the actual comic cover? Would it be considered a parody since the artist didn't come up with the Avengers, thus making it fair use?

3. Let's say I'm doing a review for my top 5 gaming memories. Would I be able use images related to each game? To add visuals to my post?

4. Is it okay to take your own screenshots of a video game and add it to a post?

5. In regards to TV and Movie reviews? Is it okay to use still shots from the shows itself? And again, what about a user created image?

Any and all help is appreciated. ]]> Intellectual Property Nexrus http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158050 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157761&goto=newpost Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:39:52 GMT Hello, First time posting here, so if I am ding something wrong or if this is addressed elsewhere, i apologize. If One were to write a book... Hello,

First time posting here, so if I am ding something wrong or if this is addressed elsewhere, i apologize.

If One were to write a book where a character in that book lived in the real world (Earth: Present Day) and had the ability to emulate abilities and skills of anything he observed, including fictional characters from copyrighted works, books, films, etc. Would this be infringement?

Example given: This person watches the Avengers and then can become Ironman and then switched to a Dragon, and then Lassie, etc.

At what point does this constitute infringement. The character is not Tony Stark, nor is he Iron Man, but can imitate his abilities. The catch is in describing those abilities I am describing the abilities of a fictional character that my fictional character might have read about.

Seems like gray territory to me and I am hesitant to proceed. Any advice or direction to actual Law would be extremely welcome and appreciated.

If you need to ask clarifying questions to shape a proper answer, please feel free to ask. ]]> Intellectual Property spankybus http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157761 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157618&goto=newpost Tue, 23 Apr 2013 01:06:58 GMT Hello guys!

I have a question. There's an end theme song I like for an anime show that's legally streamable online. Is it alright (or is it a copyright violation) to use computer software to just record the audio of the end theme song while the video is streaming and use it for my own personal use? By personal, I mean just listening to the song, since I really like it?

Also, would the same thing apply if I were to have the video stream and then put an external device (like a cassette tape player/cell phone/mp3 device/etc.) close to the speakers of my computer and then record the audio that way?

Thanks for any help! ]]> Intellectual Property suko http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157618 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157592&goto=newpost Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:45:12 GMT Hi, I received a cease and desist letter and demand for payment related to the offer for sale of CPA review products. These products were listed... Hi,

I received a cease and desist letter and demand for payment related to the offer for sale of CPA review products. These products were listed for sale for 2 days before being pulled from an online auction site. I did not relist or dispute removal and received the letter a few months later.

The licensing agreement for the authorized distributor states that the materials are only issued as a license and cannot be offered for sale, distributed, transferred, etc. I was subject to this license agreement in the prior year but am no longer subject to the agreement as it has expired. I recently found unused materials that were unrelated, but identical, to the ones I obtained under my licensing agreement and listed these for sale as they were being disgarded/thrown away.

Since these are separate, but identical, materials to those under which I had a license to use, would I be in violation of the copyright/licensing agreement even though my agreement had expired and I followed the terms of my original agreement? Since I'm no longer under the licensing agreement, can they hold me liable for having knowledge of the licensing agreement and offering to sell?

Any help is greatly appeciated and I can provide additional details as necessary.

Thanks. ]]> Intellectual Property brianmusic2003 http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=157592