Cheats, Threats, And Murkiness

Let's start with a little sympathy for the Evil One.... or Zon.

Not so much has been written recently about all the NOIs  (Notices of Intent to use music) filed with the Copyright Office because the music streaming service claims they cannot find the copyright owner.

Legal blogger Coe W. Ramsey writing for the law firm Brooks Pierce McLendon Humphrey & Leonard LLP, explain that identifying copyright ownership of a song is not necessarily a no-brainer.

"Music Law 101: Who Owns The Copyright In A Song?"
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=152cdcf7-36b9-4f58-a473-95db73d65af5&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-14&utm_term=

It's interesting reading.  Authors who want to use song lyrics in their novels should be careful. It might be more trouble than it's worth.

As an aside, a composer of any genre who uses a snatch of a song should consider the possibility that the audience may know by heart the entire song.  Currently for instance, there is a car company that is associating their lovely safe new vehicle with a persona who threatens to lay souls to waste.

A legal eagle's eye view of threats posted on Facebook has changed.  Apparently, there was a time when SCOTUS ruled it not illegal for a man to use a Facebook post to announce his intention to kill his wife. Nowadays, it is illegal for a woman (or a man) to use a Facebook group post to threaten to sue witnesses if they dare to testify in her (or his) disfavor.

Read "Extraordinary Employee Misconduct- Threatening Witnesses Through Facebook."
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b3a9cd4b-606a-4be5-9eba-d9751286062d&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-17&utm_term=

Legal blogger Fiona W. Ong  for the law firm Shawe Rosenthal LLP explains the chilling effects such use of Facebook can have on justice, and the dim view that one court took of the plaintiff's alleged threats to her colleagues.

And so, to the revelation that cheating at copyrighted digital games may be copyright infringement. If you download a program of any sort (or a book!), and you have to clink an "I AGREE" box, read even the finest of the fine print. The fine print is a contract, and you incur the legal presumption that you have read and understood it, and affirmatively agreed to it.

In "Cheaters Never Prosper And They Also Can Be Liable For Copyright Infringement"
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=b832a491-afe1-463b-88ae-b577cdc65c2a&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+General+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2018-09-13&utm_term=

legal blogger Guang-Yu Zhu   for the law firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP comments on the twist in the Zipperer case.

What you don't read or don't understand in an agreement can be a legal pain in your dark side!

All the best,

Rowena Cherry