intellectual property news stories on Newser

Online Piracy Bill Becomes Major Battle

Kevin Spak — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:20:05 CST

A battle is heating up on Capitol Hill over a controversial new bill targeting online piracy. Yesterday Google, Facebook, Yahoo and other web companies took out full-page newspaper ads railing against the House’s recently introduced Stop Online Piracy Act, even as supporters sung its praises at a hearing. “The problem...

Crist Has to Apologize Over David Byrne Song

John Johnson — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:08:40 CDT

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist had to eat crow today—on YouTube. As part of a settlement with David Byrne for using a Talking Heads song without permission, Crist had to post a video with a formal apology, reports the Orlando Sentinel . "I pledge that, should there be any future...

Jeff Koons Says He Owns Balloon Dogs

Kevin Spak — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 13:39:35 CST

Jeff Koons, the pop artist famous for making shiny, 10-foot-tall statues in the shape of balloon-animal dogs, is now taking legal action against a company that makes book-ends in a similar shape, and a gallery gift shop that sells them. Which is pretty ironic, the New York Times points out,...

Carlos the Jackal Sues to Protect Image

Kevin Spak — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:12:33 CST

Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the imprisoned international terrorist better known as Carlos the Jackal, is suing a French production company making a documentary about him, demanding final cut on the film. Ramírez argues that the film will violate his intellectual property rights to his “biographical image” unless he’s allowed to make...

Skype Sale in Doubt as Founders Sue eBay

Jason Farago — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 06:34:00 CDT

The founders of Skype are suing eBay and the investor consortium buying the Internet phone company, accusing them of copyright violation, reports the Wall Street Journal . The suit is only the latest bump in eBay's disastrous ownership of Skype and may complicate the planned $2 billion sale. Janus Friis and...

Leibovitz's $24M Deadline Looms Tuesday

Nick McMaster — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:42:33 CDT

Annie Leibovitz's $24 million question looms Tuesday, the AP reports: Will the photographer of the stars be able to repay a $24 million loan or lose the rights to her catalog of iconic photographs. With such a staggering amount due in only a few days, Leibovitz’s best option may be...

Real-World Lawyers Set Up Shop in Second Life

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:01:00 CDT

A bed designed for avatar sex? That's intellectual property. An agreement between virtual real estate developers? It's an oral contract. Or so say some lawyers, who are opening offices to handle disputes in the virtual, online world of Second Life, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "It's an emerging area of...

Chinese Court Sentences Microsoft Pirates

Katherine Thompson — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:59:56 CST

A Chinese court has convicted 11 people of violating copyright laws and sentenced them to as much as 6 1/2 years of prison for working with a counterfeiting ring that sold fake Microsoft products around the world. Microsoft hailed the crackdown on the pirates, whose organization may have made $2...

Court: Lego Can't Trademark Bricks' Shape

Nick McMaster — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:14:05 CST

A European Union court ruled today that Lego can’t trademark the shape of its iconic toy building blocks, Bloomberg reports. The court supported a 2006 decision by the EU trademark agency that said because the raised circles on Lego blocks serve a “utilitarian function,” they are ineligible for trademark. Lego...