Prinz Law

Bitmanagement Software GmbH has filed suit against the US Navy alleging willful copyright infringement of its 3D virtual reality software “BS Contact Geo” and demanding $600 million in damages.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog discussed this and the issues likely involved in the dispute in the following blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/us-navy-responds-to-copyright-infringement-suit-filed-by-bitmanagement-software/

The Prinz Law Office has launched a new copyright law meetup group in conjunction with the High Tech Section of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, as is further discussed in the link below:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/the-prinz-law-office-launches-new-copyright-law-meetup-group/

Copyright reform is back on the table in Congress, as the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog discussed in its recent blogpost:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/copyright-reform-on-the-table-in-congress-songwriter-equity-act-of-2015-introduced-in-the-house-of-representatives/.

The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog recently looked at the copyright infringement verdict against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams and explored some of the lessons to be taken away from the verdict in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/lessons-from-the-copyright-infringement-verdict-against-robin-thicke-and-pharrell-williams/

Getty Images recently initiated litigation against Microsoft. alleging that its new widget was resulting in the infringement of its copyrights, as was further discussed by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in its recent blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/getty-images-copyright-dispute-against-microsoft-to-challenge-legality-of-recently-released-widget/

Freelance photographer Daniel Morel was recently awarded a $1.2 million damage verdict against Agence France-Presse (“AFP”) and Getty Images after it was found that they willfully infringed Mr. Morel’s photos of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.  The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog discussed this case in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/landmark-copyright-verdict-against-media-companies-serves-as-cautionary-tale-to-all/

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Aereo streaming TV case, as is further discussed by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/supreme-court-to-hear-streaming-tv-over-the-internet-case/

Google has reached a settlement with several major American publishing companies, including but not limited to McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education and Penguin, John Wiley & Sons and Simon & Schuster  in a copyright infringement case challenging Google’s decision to scan the book collections of many major universities.  The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog looks at this case in a recent blog post linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/google-reaches-settlement-with-book-publishers/

Should there be small claims remedies to copyright infringement?  Congress has asked the Copyright Office to conduct a study on this issue, as is further discussed by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in a recent blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/copyright-office-seeking-comments-on-possible-change-to-small-claims-remedies/

Google has announced that it will now be factoring the number of “valid” DMCA notices that it receives on a particular website into how it ranks that website in its search results, as is further discussed by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/google-announces-controversial-decision-to-factor-2/

SOPA Blackout protesters have succeeded in having tabling SOPA and its companion bill PIPA, as the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog discussed in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/sopa-blackout-protesters-succeed-in-tabling-sopa-and-pipa-bills/

Silicon Valley is preparing for the observance of SOPA Blackout Day, in which websites are to go black for at least twelve hours, as the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog explains in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/silicon-valley-sopa-blackout-day/

If you are like most early stage software companies, you will complete your next development project without ever asking for or procuring a copyright assignment.  The Silicon Valley Software Law Blog explored this issue in the blog post linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleysoftwarelaw.com/copyright-assignmentsoverlookedinmostdevelopmentprojects

One of the most common mistakes business owners and entrepreneurs make when they hire someone to create something for their business is that they fail to obtain a copyright assignment from the person hired, which is a problem as the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog explained in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/hiring-a-third-party-to-create-for-you-dont-forget-the-copyright-assignment/

The Copyright Office has responded to claims that the Copyright Office has been experiencing a backlog, as the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog reported in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/copyright-office-issues-response-to-backlog-reports/

The Copyright Office has announced the adoption of new fees, as was reported by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/copyright-office-announces-fee-increases-effective-august-1-2009/

Have you run searches lately on the Internet to verify that none of your company’s works have been infringed?  If you were to run such a search, you are likely to find infringement on the Internet, according to this blog posting by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/copyright-infringement-on-the-internet-problem-is-no-longer-confined-to-entertainment-industry/.

Is the Kindle 2 audiobook text-to-speech feature infringing book author copyrights?  The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog explored the controversy and Amazon’s attempt at resolving the issue in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/anticipating-likely-copyright-battle-amazon-backs-down-over-kindle-2-audio-feature/

Did artist Stephen Fairey infringe a photograph of President Obama?  The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog explored the allegations and controversy in the following blog post linked below:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/associated-press-alleging-artist-stephen-fairey-infringed-president-obama-photograph/

The Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog looked at this issue of whether copyright reform rather than patent reform should be on the table, and if so, why, in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/copyright-reform-is-it-time-to-take-patent-reform-off-the-table-and-work-on-copyright-reform/

Think your business doesn’t have any IP to protect?  If your business is like most, you may have unprotected design work, as the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog explains in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/corporate-designs-does-your-business-really-have-the-rights-to-its-designs/

Yahoo Music has advised its customers that it will be shutting down its digital rights management services and issuing refunds to customers, as reported by the Silicon Valley IP Licensing Law Blog in the following blog post:

http://www.siliconvalleyiplicensinglaw.com/yahoo-music-to-shut-down-service-issue-refunds-to-customers/

Silicon Valley Lawyer Kristie Prinz will speak on copyright law on April 5, 2004 at the San Francisco Downtown Courtyard by Marriott
Developing, Protecting, and Exploiting Software Conference sponsored by Law Seminars International. Please click here to view the PowerPoint presentation.