It’s no secret that Sony has never been shy about wielding trademark like a cudgel. That said, there seems to be something new brewing with the company in its recent attempts to trademark fairly common terms, worrying some that it would use those trademarks in the same heavy-handed way. The first of those attempts was the recent Sony filing for a trademark on the term “Let’s Play”, which any gamer will recognize as the term for popular YouTube videos showing games being played, often offered by well-known YouTube personalities. While the USPTO had already refused the trademark on the grounds that a prior mark for “Let’z Play” had already been registered, a law firm that specializes in gaming law jumped in to try and have the court instead declare that “Let’s Play” is now a generic term.
Category: Copyright
Book Publisher Has No Idea How Google Works But Pretty Sure It Could End Piracy If It Tried | Techdirt
Here’s the stupidest thing on piracy you’re going to read today. Or this month. Maybe even this whole holiday season. Rudy Shur, of Square One Publishers, has a problem with piracy, which he thinks is actually a problem with Google.
After being contacted by Google Play with an offer to join the team, Shur took it upon himself to fire off an angry email in response. That would have been fine, but he somehow convinced Publisher’s Weekly to print both the letter and some additional commentary. Presumably, his position at a publishing house outweighed Publisher Weekly’s better judgment, because everything about his email/commentary is not just wrong, but breathtakingly so.
Stupid Patent of the Month: Microsoft’s Design Patent on a Slider | Electronic Frontier Foundation
For the first time ever, this month’s Stupid Patent of the Month is being awarded to a design patent. Microsoft recently sued Corel for, among other things, infringing its patent on a slider, D554,140, claiming that Corel Home Office has infringed Microsoft’s design. The design patent, as detailed by Microsoft in its complaint, is titled “User Interface for a Portion of a Display Screen” and entitles Microsoft to own this:
Source: Stupid Patent of the Month: Microsoft’s Design Patent on a Slider | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Registrar Shuts Down Pirate Bay Domain Names
The Pirate Bay lost all of its active “Hydra” domain names this morning. ThePirateBay.LA, .GD, .MN and .VG were suspended by their registrar, alongside several other TPB related domains. The domain troubles make the site hard to reach through the usual channels, but The Pirate Bay still has some backups in reserve.
Harvard Law Review Freaks Out, Sends Christmas Eve Threat Level Over Public Domain Citation Guide | Techdirt
Netgear Shows Customers How to Share Pirate Movies – TorrentFreak
Showing users how to send large video files is a task undertaken by dozens of software and hardware manufacturers but for the folks at Netgear the issue is now a controversial one. Want to send a pirate movie to a friend after downloading it from a torrent site? Netgear apparently has an app for that.
Source: Netgear Shows Customers How to Share Pirate Movies – TorrentFreak
Disney drops—then doubles down on—DMCA claim over Star Wars figure pic | Ars Technica
Man who took photos of a $6.94 Walmart action figure gets banned from Facebook.
Source: Disney drops—then doubles down on—DMCA claim over Star Wars figure pic | Ars Technica
Lucasfilm Uses DMCA to Kill Star Wars Toy Picture – TorrentFreak
Star Wars: The Force Awakens has gone into an early and bizarre anti-piracy overdrive. Earlier this week a fansite posted an image of a ‘Rey’ action figure legally bought in Walmart but it was taken down by Facebook and Twitter following a DMCA notice. Meanwhile, webhosts are facing threats of legal action.
Source: Lucasfilm Uses DMCA to Kill Star Wars Toy Picture – TorrentFreak
Anti-Piracy Lawyer Milked Copyright Holders For Millions – TorrentFreak
Leaks from a confidential auditor report into the activities of bankrupt anti-piracy law firm Johan Schlüter suggest that the company defrauded its entertainment industry clients out of $25m. One lawyer was singled out for most criticism after enriching both herself and family members.
Source: Anti-Piracy Lawyer Milked Copyright Holders For Millions – TorrentFreak
Judge: Prenda lawyer must sell condo, liquidate assets to pay $2.5M debt | Ars Technica
A federal judge in Minnesota has ordered one of the men behind the notorious Prenda Law group to liquidate his assets. Paul Hansmeier must now sell his condominium, among other assets, in order to pay back $2.5 million of debts more quickly rather than having the case drag out for years.
Source: Judge: Prenda lawyer must sell condo, liquidate assets to pay $2.5M debt | Ars Technica