This week I had the
pleasure in visiting a very informative entertainment site called,
Entertainment Law Update. Now, for those who are unfamiliar with Entertainment Law Update, it is an online platform where entertainment attorneys Gordon P. Firemark and Tamera H. Bennett
host a series of podcasts where they discuss legal news, analyze court cases, and
provide their own commentary on other legal matters in the world of
entertainment. While browsing through the many podcasts available on Entertainment Law
Update, two distinctive podcasts caught my attention, podcast episode 23:
'Monkeying Around with Copyright Law' and podcast episode 33: 'Cease and Desist, but Nicely'. After I listened to both podcasts in its entirety, I took
away some valuable information to apply throughout my career in the
entertainment industry. Whether starting
my company, or working for other businesses. Knowing a great deal of the
topics discussed in both podcast episodes would be helpful.
Copyright Law was
the main topic of Entertainment Law Update’s podcast episode 23 - 'Monkeying Around with Copyright Law'. One case both
Gordon and Tamera (the hosts) talked about was Warner Bros. winning
their copyright infringement lawsuit against AVELA. Warner Bros. sued AVELA for infringing on their
copyrighted characters from the Wizard of
Oz film, and other protected works Warner Bros. own (i.e. Gone with the
Wind and several Tom & Jerry short films. The famous children's
novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz recently entered the public domain.
The company AVELA began to shop around restored images from the Wizard of Oz film onto nostalgic type
merchandise. Gordon talked about how Warner Bros. sued and won the case because
the district court stated that, “the film copyrights cover 'all visual depictions' of the characters”. I found this information to be helpful because
I occasionally reference work sitting in the public domain (well, at least I thought was sitting in the
public domain as reported by faulty public domain sites). Knowing that derivatives of works sitting in
the public domain can still be protected under copyright could be a ‘copyright
deathtrap’ to the untrained eye. To
prevent this from ever occurring in my line of business in the future, I most definitely
will be extensively researching any works I reference or use from the public
domain.
In Entertainment Law
Update’s podcast episode 33 - 'Cease and Desist, but Nicely'. Gordon and
Tamera shared how an author by the name
of Patrick Wensink was gearing up to publish a book entitled, “Broken Piano For President”. However, Wensink ‘s book
cover bared a remarkable resemblance to the Jack Daniel’s Liquor Brand label.
Jack Daniel’s immediately sent out a cease and desist letter to Wensink ‘s book
publisher. Instead of lashing out in harsh legal terms (typically seen in most
cease and desist letters), attorneys from Jack Daniel’s camp took a more subtle
approach. Jack Daniel’s cease and desist
letter to Wensink ‘s book publisher read:
"We are certainly flattered by your affection for the brand," it states in a very unlawyerly manner, continuing "because you are both a Louisville"neighbor" and a fan of the brand, we simply request that you change the cover design when the book is re-printed. If you would be willing to change the design sooner than that... we would be willing to contribute a reasonable amount towards the costs of doing so."
Wow! Such a polite
cease and desist letter, wouldn’t you agree? My take away from this podcast
would be to approach any and every problem with kindness first. Most people are
receptive to kind words than harsh words; no matter what the circumstance. As
Gordon says, “you’ll catch more flies with honey” -- I whole-heartily standby this statement. In result, Wensink and his
book publisher changed the book cover. If
in the future of my career I encounter infringement issues. I plan to replicate
Jack Daniel’s subtle approach whenever sending out cease and desist letters to
other parties.
Hopefully, this post
helps those wanting to acquire more information regarding copyrighted content
in the public domain and effectively resolving infringement conflicts through cease
and desist letters. I guess, I have
found my new entertainment ‘hotspot’ over at entertainmentlawupdate.com. I
strongly recommend those wanting to learn more about entertainment law and how
it is applied to real life cases visit Entertainment Law Update, as well.
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