Thursday, October 21, 2010

Copyright and Fine Art Webcast CLE: 10/28 By West Legal Ed

Copyright Issues Related to Fine Art

Content Partner: West LegalEdcenter (R)
Price: $135.00*
Description: Since the advent of the Internet, most of our friends, family, and clients have become global publishers, copying and repasting copyrighted works of others on a daily basis. At the same time, contemporary art has skyrocketed in economic and symbolic importance in modern society, with a greatly expanded collector base. Changing media, modes of production, and a general lack of transparency in the art world have created a special realm of problems for both casual participants and seasoned art world veterans alike. Ray Dowd, author of Copyright Litigation Handbook (West 2010), teams up with New York and L.A.-based fine art attorney Amy Goldrich to provide the tools necessary to advise clients navigating these issues.

Among the topics to be discussed:
• Overview of copyright and special problems posed by fine art
• Basic copyright concepts generally applicable to fine art
• Recent cases involving the Visual Artists' Rights Act (VARA)
• Legal relationships in the Art World
• Transfers of possession and title: consignments, private sales, auctions, and unfortunate events
• Copyright Infringement and Fair Use
• First Sale Doctrine
• Work for hire

More information and to attend click here.https://westlegaledcenter.com/search/displayDailyWebcastSearchResults.jsf

Practice Areas: Art Fraud, Copyright Law, Enforcement & Anti-Piracy, Entertainment & the Arts, Intellectual Property Law, International Intellectual Property, International Law & Global Trade, Licensing & Intellectual Property Rights

Online Media Type: Audio
Production Date: 10/28/2010 12:00 PM EDT
Level: Intermediate
Category: Standard
Duration: 1 Hours, 0 Minutes
Online Format:

 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2010 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Film Financing: Kickstarter - The Sea Is All I Know

My friend Jordan Bayne is finishing a film called The Sea Is All I Know using an innovative financing method that allows friends to participate in the project.

This is a great project and a great way to support it.



Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2010 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Judiciary Announces Assessment and Improvements to PACER Electronic Case Access Portal

The Federal Judiciary has released an assessment of the PACER service, find it here.

Although the video touts the availability of Digital Audio files, according to PACER's website, only a few courts have made the service available, and the recording is only available if the presiding judge decides to post it on PACER.

From http://www.pacer.gov/:

Digital Audio Recording Project



Digital audio recordings are now available to the public via internet access to the PACER system. In March 2010, the Judicial Conference approved the plan to make digital audio recordings available on PACER after a two-year pilot project showed significant public interest in accessing these files. Prior to the pilot, access was only possible by obtaining a CD recording from a court clerks office for $26. The new digital files cost $2.40.


The presiding judge determines if the audio recording will be posted on PACER. Digital audio recording is used in most bankruptcy and many district courts (where magistrate judges account for most of the usage).


The following seven courts provide access to audio files through the PACER system: the U.S. District Courts in Nebraska and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts in the Eastern District of North Carolina, Northern District of Alabama, Southern District of New York, Rhode Island and Maine.

Having more courts participate and making it an "opt-out" system would make PACER truly revolutionary in digital audio recordings and be a tremendous money-saver.

From the assessment, it looks like a number of good new changes are coming to PACER.  It is amazing to see that PACER grew to over a million accounts by the end of 2009.




 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2010 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Oct 19 Trademark Trial and Appeal Board CLE -Federal Bar Association and Locke Lord



The Intellectual Property Committee of the FBA (SDNY Chapter) presents

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
Recent Developments in TTAB Practice

Tuesday, October 19, 2010
10:00 a.m. ET
Breakfast will be served.

Location
Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell
Three World Financial Center
20th Floor Conference Center
New York, New York

Cost
$25 Federal Bar Association Members
$45 Non-Members
RSVP NOW
Program
Join our discussion to learn about current developments in decisions of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. This session will go over a variety of TTAB decisions covering commonly encountered issues such as: likelihood of confusion, identification of goods, descriptiveness, genericness and functionality. Our speaker, Ted Davis, is a sought-after authority on trademark law and has extensive experience in trademark and unfair competition law and was recognized as a 2010 Georgia “Super Lawyer” for Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation by SuperLawyers magazine. He is a regular lecturer at the International Trademark Association’s annual meeting, which he has represented in several amicus filings before the United States Supreme Court.

FBA SDNY Chapter: Intellectual Property Committee Chairs
Jason Nardiello, Esq.
Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP
jnardiello@lockelord.com
Olivera Medenica, Esq.
Wahab & Medenica LLC
omedenica@wrlawfirm.com
Who Should Attend: The program is open to all and membership in the Federal Bar Association is not a requirement. The program is especially suited to: in-house and outside counsel, CEO's, brand owners, business owners and their representatives who are concerned about IP protection and counterfeit goods and trademark portfolio managers.

CLE - Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP has been certified by the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board as an Accredited Provider of CLE in the state of New York from 2009 to 2012. Attendees will receive a maximum of one (1) credit hour, of which 0 credit hours can be applied toward the "Areas of Professional Practice" requirement.

Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP New York CLE Financial Hardship Policy
Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP (LLBL) is dedicated to providing high-quality continuing legal education to attorneys interested in its course offerings. Towards that end, LLBL has a financial hardship policy for attorneys who are unable to afford the course tuition but are interested in continuing legal education courses offered by or in conjunction with LLBL.

Attorneys that are unemployed are eligible for a full scholarship. Attorneys with an annual income up to $35,000 are eligible for a tuition discount of 75%, attorneys with an annual income of $35,000 to $50,000 are eligible for a tuition discount of 50%. Attorneys with an annual income above $50,000 are not entitled to a discount.

To be considered for a financial hardship tuition reduction, please send a letter requesting a reduction and a copy of your latest federal income tax filing to:

Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell LLP
ATTN: Laura Miller
Three World Financial Center
New York, NY 10281-2101

RSVP by October 15, 2010
Laura Miller
T: 646-217-7957
lmiller@lockelord.com

 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2010 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Sunday, October 03, 2010

The First Monday in October: William K. Suter, Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court

More information on "General Suter" or William K. Suter, Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court who narrates the video below on tomorrow, the First Monday in October. here.

General Suter has served as Clerk of the Court since 1991.

More information on the office of Clerk of the U.S. Supreme Court here.



 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2010 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Is Copyright Infringement Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

In Re Therese Pearman, 432 B.R. 495 (D. New Jersey June 23, 2010) struggled with precisely this issue.  Ms. Pearman wrote a poem grieving her grandparents' death.  It was entered in a national competition and won. Then her poem was published in "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul". She complained and was paid a $500 licensing fee. Years later she found out that someone else was using her poem. She sued for copyright infringement.

But it turns out that someone else wrote the poem in the 1960s.  The accused infringer turned around and sued her demanding sanctions. She declared bankruptcy. In analyzing whether the claims against her were dischargeable in bankruptcy the court analyzed first whether or not her actions were willful. The court concluded that they were.

But the court then went on to the second portion of its analysis in determining whether the alleged debt qualified as an exception to discharge in bankruptcy. To qualify for the exception the injury must also be "malicious".  The court found that the injury was not malicious and thus did not qualify as an exception to discharge in bankruptcy under Section 523(a) (6) of the Bankruptcy Code.

So the answer is "sometimes" and a higher "malice" standard must be satisfied.  See In re Barboza, 545 F.3d 702 (9th Cir. 2008).

Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook from West here  

Saturday, October 02, 2010

Raymond J. Dowd Named General Counsel of the Federal Bar Association

From  Reuters:  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS132178+29-Sep-2010+BW20100929

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20100929005938/en/Dunnington-Announces-Raymond-J.-Dowd-Named-General

Dunnington Announces Raymond J. Dowd Named General Counsel of the Federal Bar Association

Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller, LLP, a leading New York City-based law firm established in 1921 that provides services including trusts and estates, corporate, taxation, litigation, real estate, construction, intellectual property and art law announced today that litigation partner Raymond J. Dowd was named General Counsel of the Federal Bar Association (FBA), the premier bar association serving the federal practitioner and the federal judiciary.

Mr. Dowd, who currently serves as the FBA’s Vice President for the Second Circuit, was appointed last week as General Counsel at the New Orleans annual convention. Mr. Dowd served as President of the FBA’s Southern District of New York Chapter and sits on the Editorial Board of The Federal Lawyer.

“At Dunnington, we have a proud and long-standing tradition of volunteerism and support of our local and national bar associations. We are very proud that Ray has been named General Counsel of the FBA,” said Carol Sigmond, the firm’s administrative partner.

Mr. Dowd’s litigation practice recently garnered national attention with a victory at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In Bakalar v. Vavra, Mr. Dowd represented descendants of Holocaust victims in recovering Nazi looted art, successfully arguing that New York law should trump Swiss law in determining title to stolen artworks. An experienced federal and state litigator, Mr. Dowd’s victories include summary judgment and a bench trial in trademark and unfair competition claims over the use of FASHION TELEVISION and litigation involving the estate of heiress Doris Duke, including removing the corporate fiduciary U.S. Trust Co. and upholding a $100,000 trust for her dogs.

Mr. Dowd has repeatedly been named a New York Superlawyer and is active in the Copyright Society of the U.S.A. and New York County Lawyers’ Association. He is author of Copyright Litigation Handbook (5th Ed. 2010), a Thomson West publication, the Copyright Litigation Blog, and is a former contributor to the New York Law Journal.

About Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller LLP
The firm was established in 1921 in New York City and provides a broad range of legal services to individual and corporate clients. For more information, visit http://www.dunnington.com/.

About the Federal Bar Association
The FBA is the premier bar association serving the federal practitioner and judiciary. For more information, visit http://www.fedbar.org/.

Starkman & Associates
Jeffrey Richardson, 212-252-8545, ext. 11
jrichardson@starkmanassociates.com



 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook from West here