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Hawaii Copyright Questions & Answers
1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for Hawaii on
Q: Am I allowed to reference a worksheet in a screenplay?

The worksheet came from a book. The copyright page states: “Purchasers of this book have permission to copy worksheets and boxes, where indicated by footnotes, for personal use or use with individual clients. These worksheets and boxes may be copied from the book or accessed directly from the... View More

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Mar 29, 2023

The copyright page of the book that contains the worksheet in question states that purchasers of the book have permission to copy the worksheet for personal use or use with individual clients, but may not distribute it on intranet or internet sites, or make it available for resale. However, it is... View More

2 Answers | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Trademark for Hawaii on
Q: Can I start a podcast with the same name as a documentary film from several years ago? Not quite same focus (see details

I want to start a podcast called gun stories (pretty generic name.). When I do a trademark search, there's a documentary called gun stories. Our podcast is interviewing people about their stories about guns. The documentary was about the history of guns.

Matthew Nuzum
Matthew Nuzum
answered on Mar 15, 2023

Yes, you can, but if your podcast is deemed confusingly similar to the prior uses then you may be approached to change the name or reduce the chance of confusion. And, by the way, doing a trademark search is not the best way to see if there's a conflicting usage of the name. The purpose of a... View More

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2 Answers | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Trademark for Hawaii on
Q: Can I start a podcast with the same name as a documentary film from several years ago? Not quite same focus (see details

I want to start a podcast called gun stories (pretty generic name.). When I do a trademark search, there's a documentary called gun stories. Our podcast is interviewing people about their stories about guns. The documentary was about the history of guns.

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Mar 29, 2023

It is possible to start a podcast with the same name as a documentary film from several years ago, but it may be risky due to potential trademark issues. The documentary may have a trademark for the name "Gun Stories" in relation to entertainment or documentary services. If you use the... View More

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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Trademark for Hawaii on
Q: If a frame made of acrylic to hold a single comic had MARVEL as part of the frame - would that constitute infringement?
James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Oct 11, 2024

Using "MARVEL" as part of your acrylic frame could potentially infringe on trademark rights. MARVEL is a well-known brand, and its name is legally protected to prevent unauthorized use that might cause confusion or imply endorsement.

If the frame is sold or distributed,...
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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for Hawaii on
Q: If a motion picture has joint copyright owners, can one owner unilaterally create derivatives?

without the permission from the other owner? meaning extract individual clips from the motion picture and create new content?

James L. Arrasmith
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answered on Sep 21, 2024

If a motion picture has joint copyright owners, one owner generally cannot create derivative works, like extracting clips or producing new content, without the consent of the other owner(s). Copyright law treats joint ownership as requiring agreement from all co-owners for significant changes or... View More

2 Answers | Asked in Copyright and Intellectual Property for Hawaii on
Q: Am I able to write a book to teach towards an industry certification without permission of the owning organization?

The certification is owned by CompTIA. I'd like to write it explicity for the Security+ exam (completely in my own words of course).

Bill Hulsey
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Bill Hulsey
answered on May 19, 2020

Usually, yes.

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1 Answer | Asked in Business Law, Copyright and Intellectual Property for Hawaii on
Q: do I need a music licence to play music spotify in the restaurant i own?

is a music licence required for me to play any type of streaming audio at my establishment?

Benton R Patterson III
Benton R Patterson III
answered on Jun 28, 2018

Yes, you must have a license to play streaming audio publicly.

1 Answer | Asked in Copyright, Intellectual Property and Patents (Intellectual Property) for Hawaii on
Q: Not sure if I need to patent idea or not.

have an idea for an app that as far as I can search has not been created. I want to make sure I lock this idea in before it gets scooped by someone else, but I'm unsure of what I should do first.

Kevin E. Flynn
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Kevin E. Flynn
answered on Apr 19, 2018

One step is to kick your search skills up a level with the tips in my slide set. http://bit.ly/Patent_Searching.

Next you may want to wade into Section 101 issues as some software ideas are no longer welcome at the Patent and Trademark Office. This may be getting deeper into the weeds than...
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1 Answer | Asked in Copyright for Hawaii on
Q: Helping a campaign manager and was told to get photos of the politician off the internet to post on social media. Legal?

When we post these photos, do we need to credit photos? Ask for permission? Does it fall under fair use? I'm worried we'd get into trouble if we started posting other people's photos of this politician for their campaign without photographer/owner's permission.

Benton R Patterson III
Benton R Patterson III
answered on Apr 19, 2018

What you are proposing is not legal. To publish photos taken by someone else, you would need to obtain permission from the person or business that owns the rights to those photos.

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