Robert W. Clarida

August 15, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Copyright Law columnists Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein write: Appropriation artist Richard Prince is back in court this summer for alleged copyright infringement, and the initial proceedings do not augur well for his current efforts to defend his "recontextualizing" of another's photograph as a fair use.

By Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein

18 minute read

June 23, 2017 | New York Law Journal

In their Copyright Law column, Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida discuss the recent decision in 'Kaseberg v. Conaco', wherein plaintiff claimed that five jokes he wrote and published on his blog or Twitter feed were infringed by jokes told by Conan O'Brien. In denying defendants' motion for summary judgment on three of the five jokes at issue, the judge considered arguments on copying versus independent creation, protected expression, and scope of protection. Serious issues indeed!

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

17 minute read

April 18, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Copyright Law columnists Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein write: Some eminent U.S. Supreme Court watchers have speculated that the court's temporary 4-4 ideological stalemate in 2016 led it to avoid cases involving hot-button issues. One case that arguably lends credence to this theory is 'Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands', which raised no contentious political issues, to put it mildly, but did give the court an opportunity to standardize an uncommonly chaotic body of case law surrounding the application of copyright law's "conceptual separability doctrine" to useful articles, including garments.

By Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein

17 minute read

February 14, 2017 | New York Law Journal

Copyright Law columnists Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida write: The treasure trove of pre-1972 hits has spawned a multitude of civil actions, appeals to the Second, Ninth and Eleventh Circuits, certifications to the highest courts of New York and Florida, and a complex class action settlement agreement with multiple contingencies depending primarily on whether the pending actions ultimately recognize a public performance right.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

17 minute read

December 22, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In their Copyright Law column, Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein examine litigation related to copyright in the song "We Shall Overcome." In a putative class-action suit against the copyright holder, plaintiffs claimed that the copyright was invalid because of defects in the registration for the song, fraudulent procurement of the registration, and publication of the song without proper copyright notice. Plaintiffs also asserted four claims under New York state law.

By Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein

16 minute read

October 21, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Copyright Law columnists Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida examine the law of statutory damages, in light of the Ninth Circuit's decision in 'Friedman v. Live Nation Merchandise', which considered, inter alia, two issues greatly affecting the amount of statutory damages: willfulness, and the number of separate awards available for downstream infringements.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

23 minute read

August 16, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In their Copyright Law column, Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein discuss 'Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons,' a case that has earned a previously unprecedented second trip to the Supreme Court for review of the standards for awarding attorney fees to prevailing parties in copyright cases.

By Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein

19 minute read

June 15, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In their Copyright Law column, Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida write that on June 2, the Ninth Circuit held that a 0.23 second sample from a sound recording of three horns simultaneously playing the notes of a chord did not meet the de minimis standard for copyright infringement, rejecting the reasoning of the Sixth Circuit in a 2005 decision that any sampling, no matter how brief, was infringing.

By Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida

11 minute read

April 20, 2016 | New York Law Journal

In their Copyright Law column, Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein write: Although copyright registration is sometimes viewed as a mere formality, inaccurate statements made in registration applications may come back to haunt the plaintiff, as a recent decision showed.

By Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein

15 minute read

February 23, 2016 | New York Law Journal

Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein discuss a a much-anticipated policy statement from the Commerce Department, "White Paper on Remixes, First Sale and Statutory Damages: Copyright Policy, Creativity, and Innovation in the Digital Economy."

By Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein

10 minute read