Robert J Bernstein

August 01, 2006 | Law.com

Last month, a Colorado federal court granted summary judgment to a group of film studios and directors in Clean Flicks v. Soderbergh, holding that Clean Flicks' manufacture and sale of unauthorized, edited versions of the studios' films were copyright infringement, not fair use. The court rejected the company's claims that its sanitized versions -- minus "sex, nudity, profanity and gory violence" -- were transformative. Attorneys Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida discuss the case.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

13 minute read

November 18, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Robert J. Bernstein, who practices law in New York City, and Robert W. Clarida, a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, review recent decisions on the incorporation of pre-existing expression into new works. These often entertaining decisions confirm that the fair use doctrine allows judges enormous freedom to give effect to their own tastes and opinions about the social benefits of various forms of expression.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

12 minute read

March 20, 2009 | New York Law Journal

Robert J. Bernstein, a practitioner in New York City, writes: The text-to-speech function of the new Kindle has been met with considerable resistance on the part of some authors and publishers, who felt they did not receive their share of the value added to Kindle 2 by the inclusion of audio. But it is one thing to seek a "fair share" of added value from a new use, and quite another to establish that the new use is a violation of copyright.

By Robert J. Bernstein

10 minute read

May 15, 2003 | New York Law Journal

By Robert J. Bernstein And Robert W. Clarida

13 minute read

July 16, 2004 | New York Law Journal

Robert J. Bernstein, of the Law Office of Robert J. Bernstein, and Robert W. Clarida, a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, write that an unrelenting enforcement strategy may take a serious bite or two out of profits.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

13 minute read

January 20, 2006 | New York Law Journal

Robert J. Bernstein, an attorney and past president of the Copyright Society of the U.S.A., and Robert W. Clarida, a partner in Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, write that the Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision of great moment to the future of Winnie-the-Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger and other creations of Alan Alexander Milne in his beloved, and enormously profitable, series of children's books.

By Robert J. Bernstein And Robert W. Clarida

13 minute read

May 15, 2009 | New York Law Journal

New York practitioner Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida, a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, write that United States Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter's decision to forego the remainder of his lifetime appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, and President Barack Obama's search for suitable nominees, have heightened public interest in issues of constitutional interpretation. It is therefore fitting, they note, that this month's column examines a case at the crossroads of the Copyright Clause and the First Amendment.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

13 minute read

January 17, 2002 | New York Law Journal

W ithin the last year, the Second and Fifth Circuits have addressed variations of a difficult question: In what circumstances it is appropriate to permit an infringement action based on works created or adopted by non-federal governmental entities, specifically (i) a series of tax maps created by a county agency as the basis for assessments; and (ii) privately created model building codes adopted by state subdivisions as their own building codes?

By Robert J. Bernstein And Robert W. Clarida

9 minute read

March 18, 2005 | New York Law Journal

Robert J. Bernstein, an attorney in New York City and the immediate past president of the Copyright Society of the USA, and Robert W. Clarida, a partner at Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, write that every state recognizes the right of individuals to prevent the unauthorized use of their names and likenesses for commercial purposes. Some states, including New York, consider this a civil right similar to the right of privacy, but elsewhere the concept is termed a "right of publicity."

By Robert J. Bernstein And Robert W. Clarida

13 minute read

May 16, 2008 | New York Law Journal

Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida write that three district courts have recently considered whether a work should be considered to be "derivative" within the meaning of �101 of the 1976 Copyright Act. Although in each case the issue was raised in the context of photographs of three dimensional objects, the determination of whether a work is "derivative" and the consequences of that determination are broadly applicable across the spectrum of copyrightable subject matter.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

16 minute read