The attorneys at Morningstar Law Group are leaders who are frequently asked to share their legal insights and expertise. Here is a sampling of the wisdom our attorneys are sharing at industry conferences, in published articles, and at continuing legal education events.

Insight

Mercedes Case Reveals Integrated-Work Copyright Stopgap

December 15, 2019

As Appeared in Law360, October 26, 2019 Stripped, the Mercedes-Benz USA LLC G500 runs $124,000 (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) and comes in 24 colors. In the lead-up to the January 2018 North American International Auto Show, Mercedes planned an ironic, down-scale Instagram Inc.  campaign featuring photos of its Jeep-like G500s barreling through Detroit’s boho Eastern […]

Insight

Copyright Law Update: New DMCA Regulations Loosen the Reins for Internet of Things

November 9, 2018

You may know the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) from the widely deployed DMCA take-down notices that copyright owners use to remove putatively infringing content from the Internet. Enacted in 1998, the DMCA is more, however, with provisions scattered throughout the Copyright Act. One such DMCA provision comes into play every three years. Section 1201 […]

Insight

Frequently Asked Questions - Publishing Agreements

July 19, 2018

What rights does a publisher acquire from an author? What rights should an author grant? A publisher typically wants the author to authorize an exclusive, worldwide license to exercise all of the author’s rights under copyright and the ability to authorize others to do so throughout the entire term and territory of the agreement. This might serve an author’s purposes but only if it doesn’t constitute “biting at air.” Know what your publisher has accomplished for writers who came before you with respect to each of the rights under discussion. Ascertain whether your publisher has arranged for such things as foreign-language editions or the sale of motion picture rights, and if not, grant such rights sparingly if at all. Negotiate a reversion of any right not exploited by the publisher within a reasonable period.

Insight

COPYRIGHT OFFICE REPORT ON SOFTWARE-ENABLED CONSUMER DEVICES

March 29, 2017

By: Mitch Tuchman Software-enabled consumer devices are ubiquitous.  Think not only personal computers—desktop, laptop, handheld—but thermostats, cameras, refrigerators, power tools, self-driving cars, even dolls, toys and games, among others devices too numerous to mention.  This was not so in 1976 when Congress enacted the present Copyright Act (the “Act”), including computer software for the first […]

Insight

Can I Use This Video In My Presentation?

November 14, 2014

Visit our Copyright & Licensing page or contact us today to learn how our attorneys can protect your business assets! Raleigh Office       Durham Office  919.590.0370         919.590.0364 At least a few times per year, I receive a call from a client asking if a company employee can use copyrighted […]