Copyright ownership of ‘Happy Birthday’ song is dismissed! After recently celebrating a special attorney’s birthday here in the office I felt it was only appropriate to blog about one of the most well known songs still sung today by people all over the world. Ever notice when you celebrate a birthday at a restaurant the […]
This week, a federal judge in Los Angeles indicated that he is unlikely to grant a summary judgment motion in favor of Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams in their ongoing plagiarism dispute with the heirs of the legendary Marvin Gaye. If you have been following this case, you know that the issue revolves around two […]
B.G. Hennessy is a critically acclaimed author of children’s books. Besides publishing her own original stories, Hennessy serves as the primary creator of the Don Freeman series Corduroy the Bear. After studying book design at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Hennessy worked in children’s book publishing in New York City for 17 years as a […]
The most recent news in architectural copyrights comes from the Milwaukee Federal District Court case Design Basics, LLC v. Midwet Homes, Inc.. In this case, the plaintiff, Design Basics, asserts that Midwest Homes has violated Design Basics’ copyright over two architectural works titled “Hampton” and “Newberry.” The complaint was filed on November 15, 2013. In […]
This morning I went down to the studios of WBFO 88.7 radio station to record the next installment of the You & the Law radio series. This program is featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and will air on Friday, November 8 at 5:45 p.m. My interview host Mike Desmond met me at the radio […]
Guest Blogger: Devon Gawley, English Major SUNY Geneseo “It’s photo sharing, reinvented,” brightly declares Instagram’s homepage. While this catchy tagline may be referring to Instagram’s unique photo editing and sharing program, the newest reinvention comes January 16th with a new terms of service that has many users on edge, stating, “You agree that a business […]
Authors are constantly calling me asking me “how can I get my great book published?” And recently I’ve read a great book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch entitled APE: Author, Publisher,Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book that I believe every new author should read. It’s written from the perspective of someone who has “been there, done […]
Elton John is being sued for copyright infringement. In a lawsuit filed in Illinois in April of 2012, Gary Hobbs is claiming that John stole lyrics from his 1982 song “Natasha” and used them in John’s 1985 song “Nikita” without the consent of Hobbs. In addition, Hobbs claims that John shopped the lyrics around to […]
As a Buffalo copyright attorney I meet many new authors. A childhood friend of mine recently published a book of songs he wrote and I asked him to share some of his thoughts about the publishing process with my LoTempio law blog readers. Here is what Alan Gembola had to say: Can you give us […]
As a Buffalo patent attorney I often get asked questions from would-be authors about publishing and copyright. Dave Kocak tennis pro at the Miller Tennis Center wrote a book called “Tennis for the Rest of Us” and I asked him to share some of his thoughts about the process of writing and publishing a book. […]