If you’ve been paying any attention to the latest cryptocurrency news and even if you haven’t you’ve probably heard something about the new NFT craze that has been sweeping the space. NFTs are “non-fungible tokens” that are stored on a…
On March 11, 2021, a 443-megabyte JPEG image sold for a record-breaking $69.3 million. This sum was not only the highest price paid for a piece of digital artwork ever, but was also the third-highest auction price achieved by any…
A recent legal dispute between singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman and rapper Nicki Minaj has shed light on an interesting issue in the field of copyright and music: whether musical artists “can be held liable for copyright infringement for works in progress”…
As fitness companies transform into entertainment companies, new licensing issues arise regarding music in an at-home work-out video versus music heard in an in-person gym class. Specifically, the usage of music in a gym class requires a public performance license…
The Wayback Machine is a well-known resource to law school journal editors and many other people. For editors, it is a tool to confirm the accuracy of claims cited using webpages that are no longer accessible or behind a paywall.…
The music industry’s widely anticipated Mechanical Licensing Collective (“MLC”) officially went into effect at the beginning of January 2021. The MLC, which was created via the passage of the Music Modernization Act (“MMA”) in 2018, was created to administer a…
The 2014 Billboard Music Awards featured a Michael Jackson performance like no other: a holographic Jackson moonwalked once again as he sang “Slave to the Rhythm,” a song from the new, posthumously released Jackson album “Xscape.” The legality surrounding holographic…
Squaring tattoo art and copyright law initially begs the question, to whom does a tattoo and the rights that attach to this form of artistic expression belong to? Initially, the two options that make the most logical sense are that…
Put yourself in the shoes of someone who receives a new tattoo. Eager to share the design with friends, you start snapping pictures of the fresh body art. You send a text alongside the pictures saying, “Check out my new…
The premise that copyright holders can sue those who infringe on their property seems like a fundamental truth of our legal system. If one person or entity uses another’s copyrighted material against their wishes, they can sue for possible damages…
The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to review the merits of the case, Google, Inc. v. Oracle America, Inc. and will be hearing arguments this upcoming March. This case has been followed closely by the tech industry (as well as…
Increased simplicity of sharing information and rapid dissemination of user-generated content in the digital era has introduced challenges and uncertainty around many aspects of intellectual property law. Just last year, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) updated its guidelines outlining how…
