Get free answers to your Copyright legal questions from lawyers in your area.
Chronicles of Narnia: Susan was left behind in the final book "The Last Battle". Lewis recognized the story was incomplete in a 1960 letter to Pauline Bannister and suggested she finish it. This is my attempt to do just that and complete Susan's story. I was very careful to make no... View More 
answered on Jan 17, 2020
There is a lot of fan fiction published on-line, so it is difficult for the owners of copyrights to monitor all that. But since the Narnia books have been made into movies, the production companies or whoever still owns the rights to those works could take action against you. Use the Find a... View More
i'm writing a song and i like the line "tiger, tiger, burning bright" which was a poem published in 1794. would it be safe to include it in my own writing or do you think i would still be sued by the writers family or estate?
answered on Jan 9, 2020
If the poem has passed into the public domain, then it would be available for anyone to use. If it was written that long ago, it probably is now in the public domain. And even if a work is copyrighted, if only 4 words of a copyrighted work are used, that might not be enough to be an infringement.... View More
I worked for a company that had many non-disclosure agreements
answered on Oct 24, 2019
Hi. Good question. You have to do a prior art search. Not an easy thing to do, often containing two levels. First is a outsourced company doing the prior art search. Second, a patent attorney analyzing and providing opinions on the prior art.
Worked for Lennox Industries for 19yrs; this was my final project. Even the events to my termination were questionable; at best, in my estimation.
answered on Sep 28, 2019
Congratulations on being an inventor on a US patent. You can download a PDF of the patent at https://patents.google.com/patent/US10337727B2/en?oq=10337727 and then print the patent out.
If you want the patent on some thicker stock, you can buy one from the USPTO for $3. I have not done... View More
I’m currently making a fan project that is completely non profit. I want to know if I would get sued or not.
answered on Sep 16, 2019
You can get sued.
Whether you will or not will depend on the company.
A lot of fan projects are left alone because of the potential for negative publicity, but that does not mean they do not have the right to do it.
Consult with a branding and intellectual property attorney to assess your risks.
answered on Aug 1, 2019
What are they for? Fair use exceptions allow news outlets, artists, comedians and such to use copyrighted material on a limit basis for their stories or acts. It does not allow for commercial mass production. So, if you are a comedian, and you want to have one such logo for a bit, it’s fine. If... View More
answered on Jul 16, 2019
If you use images of Waldo and other recognizable features of the books, then yes, it would infringe the copyright. Getting permission might be difficult to track down the owner. The book publisher might have the rights, or the author might have retained them. Use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain... View More
answered on May 15, 2019
Short answer is that I do not know without looking. Eventually, you may want a patent attorney to help you. I am not sure whether you are looking to obtain a patent or just want to be clear of the patents for others. The searches for these two questions overlap but they are not exactly the same.... View More
For example, a site to where a User can search a specific section of a cemetery/gravesite or the entire cemetery as a whole and looks for certain groups, people of interest and whatnot?
answered on May 10, 2019
I'm not aware of any such patent and a cursory search of the available databases don't turn up any such patents. (though there was an interesting one which incorporated video into a gravestone!) However, this doesn't tell us if one exists either in the US or in other jurisdictions.... View More
Our products were sold exclusively by a large fortune 500 company under a trademarked brand name. They have recently stopped selling our products in lieu of creating their own line. I'd like to know if, in our marketing, we can say, [our product name] has been sold by [their company name]... View More
answered on Apr 22, 2019
Use the Find a Lawyer tab to retain a local intellectual property attorney to review all the facts of the situation and advise you if the large company might take any action against you if you do that.
I co-designed a map for my business that helped with navigating an area...then had an organization go to the designer i paid to tweak the map a little, and put it out as their own. I have some questions.
answered on Feb 14, 2019
If your written agreement with the designer did not also assign the copyright to you, then the designer still own the copyright in the map design, even though you paid the designer for it. An assignment of copyright must be in writing, otherwise, the designer retains it. If the designer still... View More
The debts (loans by me) of the corporation far exceed the assets of the corporation and the corporation cannot pay the requested settlement fee.
answered on Oct 31, 2018
Can't even answer without knowing more. Please call to set up an appointment.
I play in a local band and we are in the process of recording an album. We want to use a short segment from a news broadcast in one of our songs, do we need to get permission before using it, or is it acceptable under Fair Use?
Thanks!
answered on Sep 11, 2018
Fair use is determined on a case-by-case basis and judged substantially on the following four factors:
1 )the purpose and character of your use
2) the nature of the copyrighted work
3) the amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and
4) the effect of the use... View More
i work at a bar, and created an image of ohio using the logos of the breweries in ohio. i want to be allowed to sell the image on shirts but dont know how to go about doing so. i do not know how to find if images are copyrighted or trademarked and therefore am unsure about my next step. any help is... View More
answered on Jun 6, 2018
The only way is to conduct an image search via the USPTO's database of registered trademarks. Images are a bit tougher to research than word marks, because there's a bit of subjective interpretation in the description of the designs and their potential similarity to other registered... View More
A friend suggested I find out before marketing and selling the gifts to current and former workers at the power plant. Also, I am a current employee of the company that owns the nuclear plant.
I have researched benefits of specific vegetables and fruits and started using them in animal feed production with great results in animal health and performance. No other feed company includes these ingredients in their feed. Can I patent this to prevent competitors from duplicating my feed /... View More
answered on Mar 31, 2018
Starting in March of 2013, the rules for what could be patented changed. See https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/35/102
The relevant text is
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless—
(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or... View More
I work in healthcare and have found a medical procedure that is much more efficient and is safer than current “best practices”. I’d like to start a business teaching these techniques but am worried about them claiming ownership since I work there. I saw the current practices were not... View More
answered on Mar 12, 2018
There is no way to answer without knowing details of what you have developed. It might fall under copyright or patent, or neither. Ideas are not copyrighted, but the expression can be. But a method or technique could be patentable. And any employment contract or terms of employment included in... View More
answered on Feb 7, 2018
If you use any images or other graphics, characters, or other related recognizable elements, you could be infringing the copyrights and trademarks. YouTube could take down what you post, and the owners of Pokémon could then make claims against you, seeking an injunction, civil damages, and/or... View More
The person who took responsibility for registering the SR Copyright on a CD of original music and was supposed to finalize the legal paper work for the entity that was going to "own" the copyrights didn't actually finish the registration of the business entity to own the copyrights.... View More
answered on Jan 17, 2018
Yes, the copyright (i.e. the legal right, not the registration) should still be valid. A copyright registration which includes erroneous information can be corrected. Review the procedures under section 1800 of the copyright office Compendium.
Regarding ownership, a copyright is always... View More
I wrote lyrics and someone else wrote the music to create a song. She is recording her composition with her band and sending me the audio. If another musician is interested in composing a different musical arrangement for the lyrics do I need the permission of the first musician to do so? I have... View More
answered on Nov 28, 2017
The author of lyrics automatically gains copyright protection under US copyright laws. The author can register that copyright to get added protection against infringement. The composer who does the music also gains copyright protection in the musical composition. So a song has 2 copyrights.... View More
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