Showing posts with label pleading copyright infringement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pleading copyright infringement. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

CLE November 28: Removal of Copyright Cases From State Court and Preemption of State Law By the Copyright Act

Tomorrow, November 28, West LegalEdcenter is hosting a live audio CLE titled Copyright Litigation:  Removal and Preemption

Below is the description from the West LegalEdcenter website, more information and signup here.

Description: Ray Dowd, author of West’s acclaimed Copyright Litigation Handbook and a partner in Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP in New York City will take us through the surprisingly complex process of deciding whether an action belongs in federal or state court and whether claims are properly pleaded under federal or state law.
The situation: client storms in wanting a lawsuit filed tomorrow over a copyright dispute. What court should it be filed in? Do the claims “arise under” the Copyright Act or are they really state law claims? If you are not sure, should your complaint plead lots of “kitchen sink” state law claims? Another situation: your client has been sued in state court. You think it’s a federal case. How do you kick it out (remove) it to federal court? And what are the downsides if you are wrong and the case is remanded to state court?
Conserving and focusing litigation resources at the outset of a case may save a client thousands of hours of litigation anguish. Dowd walks practitioner through some of the tactical and strategic choices that a litigator faces in understanding the interplay between the federal and state fora and legal regimes. Dowd’s entertaining presentation will clue you in to some of the tricks and surprises that may cut off the rights of the unprepared. The Copyright Act and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure interact in ways that may help your client to turn early skirmishes into decisive victories.
Dowd’s Copyright Litigation Handbook is the first publication aimed at the practitioner who must make quick practical decisions in the heat of battle and evaluate the immediate procedural consequences. Copyright Litigation Handbook devotes attention to procedural case law that rarely reaches the appellate level, but is of critical importance to the life of everyday practitioners.
The New York Law Journal called Dowd’s Copyright Litigation Handbook “an indispensable guide and supplement to the ins and outs of copyright litigation…”. Join us for a lively session on a hot topic. For more information on Copyright Litigation Handbook 2012-2013 ed, please visit the Thomson Reuters Westlaw Store here.


Practice Areas: Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Law
Online Media Type: Audio
Production Date: 11/28/2012 12:00 PM EST
Level: Basic
Category: Standard
Duration: 1 Hours, 0 Minutes
Online Format: Live


 www.dunnington.com
 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2011 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Audio Download Available: Copyright Litigation: Preparing the Complaint - Investigation, Analysis and Documentation


West's LegalEdCenter now has available for download the one-hour audio program Copyright Litigation:  Preparing the Complaint - Investigation, Analysis and Documentation.   Find the program here, description below:
Ray Dowd, author of West’s acclaimed Copyright Litigation Handbook and a partner in Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP in New York City will lead us through the process of investigating, analyzing and documenting a copyright litigation from the initial client interview.

Dowd, a seasoned litigator, takes us through a pre-flight litigation checklist designed to avoid potential pitfalls that may arise before a copyright litigation is launched or when your client is sued. Does your client have a case? If so, how well is it documented? Have you reviewed the client’s claims and documents before actually filing the complaint? What evidence do you need before moving ahead?

Does your case belong in federal or state court? This course will cover how to pick the right courthouse, analyze copyright terms, statutes of limitations and how to get an idea of whether attorney’s fees may be available.
Initial considerations from the defendants’ perspective will be considered, together with some potential strategies for quickly finding the holes in your adversary’s case.

Don’t wait until you are in a courtroom to realize that preparing copyright cases requires special attention. Copyright litigation has exploded as the world has become digitized. This course will assist you in navigating potential minefields.

The New York Law Journal called Dowd’s Copyright Litigation Handbook “an indispensable guide and supplement to the ins and outs of copyright litigation…”. Join us for a lively session on a hot topic. For more information on Copyright Litigation Handbook 2011 ed, please visit the Thomson Reuters Westlaw Store here.


Practice Areas: Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Law
Online Media Type: Audio
Production Date: 07/25/2012
Level: Intermediate
Category: Standard
Duration: 1 Hours, 3 Minutes
Online Format: On Demand
www.dunnington.com
 Purchase Copyright Litigation Handbook 2011 by Raymond J. Dowd from West here  

Monday, May 24, 2010

Pleadings and Iqubal - How Courts Are Interpreting Rule 12(b)(6)

Good article here in The Federal Lawyer on Iqubal in the Circuit courts by John McCarthy, President of the SDNY Chapter of the Federal Bar Association.

Disclosure: I am on the Editorial Board of The Federal Lawyer and serve as a Federal Bar Association Vice President for the Second Circuit.  I still think it's a good article.  McCarthy found 5,200 cases citing Iqubal, 242 of which were appellate decisions.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Register of Copyrights Marybeth Peters in a Mashup



Tuesday, March 30, 2010

New! Copyright Law for the General Practitioner Update - CLE on the Web Available on Lawlines

New copyright law update available through Lawlines here.

Raymond Dowd, Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller, LLP

Joseph Peterson, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
David J. Wolfsohn, Woodcock Washburn

Program Chair:

Raymond Dowd, Dunnington, Bartholow & Miller, LLP

Description:

Learn from experienced litigators about the basics of copyright law and practice, including assignments, licensing, recording security interests, dealing with the Copyright Office, pre-litigation due diligence and litigation.

Lecturer Bios
David Wolfsohn, a trial lawyer, has tried numerous copyright, patent, trademark, unfair competition, and trade secret cases. On behalf of plaintiffs, he has obtained multimillion dollar verdicts and settlements, including a $19 million jury verdict in June 2006 in a copyright case (The Graham Company v. US! MidAtlantic) and a $5.8 million settlement of a trade secret case.


After graduating cum laude and order of the coif from the University of Chicago Law School in 1988, David served as a law clerk to the Honorable Walter K. Stapleton of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He then worked at a Philadelphia litigation firm for 16 years, handling commercial, governmental, and intellectual property disputes. David joined Woodcock Washburn in 2005, where he litigates intellectual property cases.

David was also lead counsel (pro bono) in the landmark case Nixon v. Commonwealth, in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a Pennsylvania statute barring persons convicted of minor crimes decades ago from all jobs in health care related fields. For this representation, David received the Equal Justice Award in 2004 from Community Legal Services.

David frequently lectures about trial tactics and intellectual property matters. A former concert pianist, David sits on the board of Astral Artistic Services, an organization dedicated to advancing the careers of young concert musicians. For four years, David was the solicitor for the Borough of Swarthmore, and now serves on the Swarthmore Borough Authority.

Joseph Petersen is a partner in the Intellectual Property group in the New York office of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP. Mr. Petersen has extensive experience in complex commercial litigation with particular expertise in intellectual property disputes such as copyright infringement, trademark infringement, trade secrets, litigation, patent infringement, and domain name disputes. He also regularly counsels clients on the protection, enforcement and licensing of their intellectual property assets.
Selected Experience
• Successfully represented the plaintiff in Yurman Design Inc. v. Diamonds and Time, 169 F. Supp. 2d 181 (S,D.NY. 2001) (granting plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction in trademark infringement litigation).
• Represented leading manufacturer of ant-theft devices in successful motion for preliminary injunction in action pending before the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
• Obtained temporary restraining order restraining defendant's enforcement of foreign injunction enjoining client from importing merchandise to defendant’s competitor during peak of holiday selling season.
• Represented client in successful motion to dismiss antitrust claims brought against a leading jewelry firm
• Represented leading cable television network in opposition proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

Background
Admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit; U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; U.S. District Court, District or Connecticut; New York and Connecticut state courts.

Education
Law: Vanderbilt University, J.D. (1998)
Undergraduate: State University of New York, B.S., summa cum/aude (1991)
Bar Admission(s)

New York; Connecticut, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; Eastern District of New York; Southern District of New York

Raymond Dowd is a member of DBM's intellectual property, corporate, litigation and arbitration practice groups. He has broad commercial litigation experience in both federal and state courts, and has represented copyright, trademark and domain name owners, broadcasters, distributors and content providers in transactions and litigation, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. He has conducted numerous bench and jury trials and arbitrations. He has obtained, enforced, and collected judgments including conducting seizures. In addition, he has provided corporate and transactional representation entrepreneurial companies from the incorporation and startup phase through significant growth. Mr. Dowd represents collectors and dealers of fine art and has litigated disputes involving authenticity, forgery, ownership and provenance. Mr. Dowd regularly speaks to trade associations on copyright, fine art, trademark and litigation issues, and participates in organizing continuing legal education programs.

Memberships and Affiliations: Copyright Society of the U.S.A.; New York State Bar Association; Commercial and Federal Litigation Section; Intellectual Property law Section; President, Southern District of New York State Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (2006-2008); Federal Bar Association, Vice President for the Second Circuit (2008 - ); New York County Lawyers' Association; Board of Directors (2003 - 2006); Co-Chair, Entertainment Media, Intellectual Property and Sports Law Section (2000 - 2003); Continuing Legal Education (2003 - 2008); Committee on Committees ( 2003 - 2007).

Publications: Copyright Litigation Handbook, (West 3d Ed. 2008); former columnist, New York Law Journal; Copyright Litigation Blog. Member, Editorial Board, The Federal Lawyer (2007 - ).

Bar Admissions: New York (1993); U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (1994); Northern U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1998);U.S. Supreme Court (2000); United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (2000); United States Tax Court (2007)

Education: Manhattan College (B.A. 1986); Fordham University School of Law (J.D. 1991)
Languages: French, Italian

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Pleading Copyright Claims: Israeli Copyrights, the Berne Convention and Protecting Cracked Software

In Waves Audio Ltd v. Uptime Inc., 2010 WL 308301 (S.D.N.Y. Jan 22, 2010), Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald dealt with an unusual case:  a copyright infringement action that had already spent two years in litigation in New York State Supreme Court.  Plaintiff Waves distributes an audio software and alleged that Uptime Studios used a cracked/pirated copy.  The plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the state claims and refiled a federal action.   Judge Buchwald considered the issue of whether the plaintiffs should be allowed to amend a FOURTH time in the federal action to allege the copyrights they owned and to add claims to unspecified Israeli copyrights under the Berne Convention.

Judge Buchwald told Waves that a fourth bite at the apple (too many amendments after numerous warnings about the complaint's lack of specificity) was too much and didn't let the plaintiff add the Israeli copyrights.

Lots of litigation recently regarding the Berne Convention see my recent post here.  Software sellers having a nightmare figuring out who owns all that code?  Lots more cases like this to come.