This blog post builds on my previous post. This time I will be covering fair use for trademarks instead of copyright. Much like copyright, there are exceptions and limits to what protection owning a trademark can provide you, including what is and is not infringement. Fair use in the trademark space breaks down into two … Read more
Never a dull moment! While enforcement of the nicotine vape ban begins September 1, 2025, hemp vapes get a one-year reprieve, with enforcement delayed until September 1, 2026. More information from the Department of Revenue (DOR) is below: Manufacturers must certify their devices to the department by July 1, 2025, except manufacturers of an electronic … Read more
Remember the days of the tax free Internet purchase? Me neither, because those days never really existed. That said, in the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. , the risk of non-collection for said taxes has shifted from consumer to company – and anyone who makes an online sale should sit … Read more
Fair use is a defense, but it isn’t always a slam dunk winning defense. Shepard Fairey is a graphic artist and known for street art. You may not recognize his name, but you likely recognize at least one piece of his work: The Obama HOPE poster. The photo is instantly recognizable and arguably iconic. It … Read more
Jeff likes to say, “There are only three “fairs” in the world: The county fair, the state fair, and the World’s Fair.” However clever that is, in copyright law, we also have fair use. I’ve been getting asked a lot of forms of, “If I do X, am I doing something wrong with someone else’s … Read more
Dua Lipa sued Samsung for using a photograph of her on boxes of TVs sold by Samsung. She accused Samsung of copyright and trademark infringement and of violating her “right of publicity”. The photograph is one of Dua Lipa, but more importantly for the copyright claim, she owns the copyright to the photo. Without her permission to use … Read more
When most of us think about figure skating at the Winter Olympic Games, we picture elite athletes, dramatic performances, and unforgettable routines. However, in recent years, an important issue has emerged: complex copyright disputes. For decades, copyright music licensing was rarely an issue in competitive skating. This is because the International Skating Union (ISU) prohibited … Read more
I’ve been thinking about the clash between generative AI and copyright law, particularly in light of OpenAI’s claim that restricting access to copyrighted material could end the AI race altogether. It’s a provocative statement. But it’s also a false binary. Because we’ve been here before – at the edge of a new medium, a new … Read more
My last blog post ended with a cliffhanger: but what about Jack Daniel’s and dog toys? For those of you on the edge of your seats, thanks for waiting. There are others probably thinking, “What is this guy’s deal? First, it was shoes and socks, and now it’s whiskey and dog toys?” For those readers, … Read more
Today’s post revisits something discussed several years ago on this blog: fair use. If you are looking for background or further reading, check out Erin’s posts here, here, and here, as well as Collin’s post here. As a quick TL;DR to those previous posts, fair use is a defense to copyright infringement claims for a … Read more