The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vindicated pop star Ed Sheeran against copyright infringement claims directed to his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud.” A holding company called Structured Asset Sales, LLC (“SAS”) sued Sheeran in 2018, claiming
Incontestable Blog
Blog Authors
Latest from Incontestable Blog
USPTO Trademark Fees: Changes for 2025
By Publisher
Effective January 18, 2025, trademark applicants and registrants will face changes in USPTO trademark fees. The USPTO last increased existing fees and introduced some new fees in 2021. It published its final rule-making on trademark fees on November 18, 2024…
USPTO to Target Fake Trademark Specimens of Use With Expanded Audit Program
By Publisher
Hoping to crack down on the ever-increasing problem of overbroad trademark registrations and fake specimens of use, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has announced that it will expand its existing audit program, currently conducted on a random…
Librarian of Congress Adopts New Exemptions Under Section 1201 of the DMCA
By Publisher
Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) generally makes it unlawful to circumvent technological measures used to prevent unauthorized access to copyrighted works, including copyrighted books, movies, videos, video games, and computer software. Effective October 28, 2024, the…
Internet Archive’s Digital Lending Library Not Protected by Fair Use, Second Circuit Finds
By Publisher
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that Internet Archive’s (“IA”) free digital book lending program is not fair use under the Copyright Act. The Court’s three-judge panel unanimously affirmed last year’s district court ruling (discussed in our…
DMCA Survives Another First Amendment Challenge
By Publisher
The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently issued its decision in Matthew Green v. DOJ, rejecting a First Amendment challenge to section 1201 of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Section 1201 prohibits the…
U.S. Copyright Office Says New Federal Right “Urgently Needed” to Protect Individuals from Unauthorized Deepfakes
By Publisher
The U.S. Copyright Office recently issued a policy report concerning AI-generated images and recordings that impersonate others by mimicking their voice or visual likeness, otherwise known as “deepfakes” or “digital replicas.”Read more
Going for Advertising Gold: Guidelines for Advertising During the Olympic and Paralympic Games
With Opening Ceremonies in Paris just days away, athletes all over the world are getting ready for high-stakes performances.Read more
First Circuit Finds that El Gran Combo’s Lead Vocalist Is Entitled to Royalties
By Publisher
In 1996, Congress amended the Copyright Act to create a new entitlement to royalties from certain performances of sound recordings for musicians who performed on those recordings—regardless of whether they have any ownership of the copyright in the recordings. The…
Basquiat Made a Name for Himself in Art, but Not in Alcoholic Beverages
By Publisher
Jean-Michel Basquiat was a New York-based visual artist whose contributions to the neo-expressionism artistic movement led to his rise to fame in the 1980s. Although Basquiat passed away in 1988 at the age of 27, his vast body of work…