Archives for: ‘Media & entertainment’
What’s in a name? (Try to) Keep up with the Kardashians
Here at IP Whiteboard, we learnt the power of a celebrity name when one of our posts got roughly 20 times more hits than we expected (and crashed the site in the process). Why? While we like to think the combination of on-trend pop culture knowledge and cutting edge legal analysis really drew readers in, ultimately it was the celebrity …
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Disney’s “Frozen” in copyright dispute – filmmaker can’t Let it Go
Question: What do these things have in common? a snowman loses his carrot nose, and it slides out to the middle of a frozen pond; the snowman is on one side of the pond and an animal who covets the nose is on the other; the characters engage in a contest to get to the nose first and the animal …
Read MoreGetting mathematical about a musical treasure: “I Am Australian” in the Copyright Tribunal
Back in November 2014 we reported that the iconic song, I Am Australian, was in the midst of a legal dispute in the Copyright Tribunal of Australia (Tribunal) between one of its co-authors, Bruce Woodley of The Seekers, and the Commonwealth Government. You can read more about the background to the dispute here. What’s the update? In summary, Mr Bruce …
Read MoreCopyright case of Olympic proportions
Just before Christmas last year, Justice Bennett handed down the decision in Seven Network Limited v Commissioner of Taxation [2014] FCA 1411 which held that no copyright existed in Channel Seven’s live television broadcasting of the 2006 (Winter) Olympics in Turin, and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, to Australian viewers. Her Honour found that the footage was transmitted via …
Read MoreMetadata retention bill likely to pass
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security published its advisory report on Australia’s metadata retention bill today (Friday 27th). The report is bipartisan, in that representatives of both major political parties agree with its recommendations.
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Fighting ‘Revenge Porn’ through Copyright
Unless your surname is “Kardashian”, it is unlikely that being a victim of a ‘Revenge Porn’ attack launched by a jilted ex-lover could ever end well. However, thanks to the unfortunate experience of a Californian law student who recently filed a copyright lawsuit in the U.S following such an attack, you may never have to experience this fate. Photo credit: http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-censored-nude-woman-portrait-young-tape-covering-eyes-breasts-image33259509 …
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5 Seconds of Summer refused trade mark registration
The music production company behind one of the biggest boy bands in the world, 5 Seconds of Summer, has been refused registration of the trade mark ‘5SOS’. Is this due to a lack of up-to-date pop culture knowledge on the part of the Australian Trade Marks Office? You can read the decision here. For those of you asking “who is …
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