Alt Legal IP News – Issue #153
Bri Van Til | August 27, 2019
A Sporting Chance
– The USPTO deflated Tom Brady‘s hopes of trademarking “Tom Terrific.”
– After a mixup on his baseball card, MLB player Shane Bieber filed a trademark application to make sure the world knows that he is “Not Justin.”
– Milkcrate Athletics is separately suing both adidas and Under Armour for trademark infringement.
The Bounds of Copyright
– Disney Corporation’s lobbying efforts over the past several decades extended copyright terms and protected Mickey Mouse but may have cost them Spider-Man since the property would otherwise now be in the public domain.
– The Supreme Court is set to hear a case about state immunity in a copyright infringement case about footage of a recovered pirate ship.
– This article considers whether Indian copyright law should put limitations on text and data mining operations.
Have You Heard?
– A second copyright infringement case featuring a Marvin Gaye song is challenging the boundaries of copyright protection since the suit alleges that the infringement is not of the song’s beat or lyrics but rather of its “feel” and “vibe.”
– Major book publishers are suing over Audible’s newest technology, which uses AI to transcribe words from an audiobook.
– The 2018 Music Modernization Act brought together both houses of Congress as well as the music industry, but not everyone is pleased with the legislation. Rapper Eminem is suing Spotify for billions of dollars in damages for alleged copyright infringement resulting from the MMA.
Odds and Ends
– An Iowa artist is suing HyVee for including his mural in its Superbowl ad.
– A TTAB examiner refused to grant trademark registration for a cannabis vaporizer, citing that there’s no POTential legal use for the illegal paraphernalia.
– The US Congress is set to consider changes to the Patent Act.