Why You Would Ever Bring a Trade Dress Suit in the Second Circuit is Beyond Me. As a plaintiff, the only jurisdiction I can think of that I'd rather be in less than the Second Circuit is the Seventh. And this is why. From the article, entitled "Vuitton Loses Dooney-Bourke Trademark Bid": "Louis Vuitton created a new look and now seeks to preclude others from following its lead," Scheindlin said. "If Louis Vuitton succeeds, then it will have used the law to achieve an unwarranted anticompetitive result ... the objective of trademark law is not to harm competition."

So, is This More Like a VCR, or More Like DeCSS? Reuters reports in Homegrown Satellite Radio Software Draws XM Fire." From the article: "A spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America said his organization had not reviewed the software, but said that in principle it was disturbed by the idea. 'We remain concerned about any devices or software that permit listeners to transform a broadcast into a music library,' RIAA spokesman Jonathan Lamy said."

They're Baaack. From The New York Times, "Prepare to See More of a Certain Cat and Bunny." Via The Trademark Blog.

One More. To go with Marty's list of Source Material on Regulation of Political Speech, let's add "Statement by President Bush Wednesday after signing campaign finance legislation, as provided by the White House": "I believe individual freedom to participate in elections should be expanded, not diminished; and when individual freedoms are restricted, questions arise under the First Amendment." A little partisan commentary here and here. For good measure, let's get a conservative's take.

Unhand that Domain. Reuters reports that "Spike Lee wins case against porn site."

If it's in the Public Domain, Ludlow isn't "Allowing" Them to do Anything... The AP reports that "Guthrie publisher lets cartoon use song." From the article:

With nary a jab thrown, Ludlow Music, the song's publisher, agreed in a settlement Tuesday to allow the cartoon -- one of the biggest Internet draws of the summer -- to keep using the song.
In return, JibJab dropped a lawsuit against Ludlow that sought an order saying its use of the song was protected because it was a parody and "This Land" was in the public domain.
The creators also agreed to provide a link on their Web site to the song's original lyrics and to donate 20 percent of any profits to the Woody Guthrie Foundation.

More On Yesterday's Raids. The Washington Post reports in "Suspected File-Sharing 'Hubs' Raided." From the article: "Agents also went to the Dallas offices of the Planet Internet Services Inc., an Internet service provider that also hosts Web pages for businesses."

Tired of Hearing About the INDUCE Act Yet? Wired reports in "Induce Act Draws Support, Venom." The AP reports here.

Political Cybersquatting. The AP reports in "Utah Man Buys Up Domain Names in Bush Push." From the article: "Jed Merrill, 28, of Park City, Utah, has registered the Web addresses of vermontdemocrats.com, mainedemocrats.com, massachusettsdemocrats.com and rhode-islanddemocrats.com, and linked them to the GOP site." I must say, I think the Vermont Democratic Party's reliance on Google to sort it all out is misplaced, and ignores the fact that there are measures the Democrats can take to stop Mr. Merrill.

File Traders the New Mafia? Reuters reports in "U.S. Raids Net Song Swappers in Copyright Crackdown." From the article:"'They are clearly directing and operating an enterprise which countenances illegal activity and makes as a condition of membership the willingness to make available material to be stolen,' [Ashcroft] said." Internetnews.com has this report. Meanwhile, Reuters reports that "Music Industry Sues 744 for File Sharing." Internetnews.com reports in "RIAA Steps Up P2P Legal Campaign."

France Fighting For Your Right to Copy? The AP reports in "Lawsuit Challenges Anti-Piracy Technology." From the article:

The lawsuit accuses EMI and Fnac of "deception over the material qualities of a product."

Filed on behalf of several individual consumers, it alleges that the copy protection system used on certain EMI discs makes it impossible to play them on many car stereos, hi-fi's and personal computers.

Clash of the Casual Wear Titans. The AP reports that "Adidas Files Trademark Lawsuit Against Ralph Lauren." From the article: "Adidas, the No. 2 athletic shoe company in the world after Beaverton-based Nike Inc., claims that a Polo jacket with two stripes on its sleeves bears too close a resemblance to an Adidas jacket with three stripes." Via The Trademark Blog.

PM ACPA Ruling. The Trademark Blog reports that "Philip Morris Seizes Domain Name of Infringer."

Posner on Fair Use. Regardless of which side of the issue you're on, you should really be reading Judge Posner's posts on fair use over at Larry's blog. From a recent post:

"With regard to the Patry-Posner proposal for creating a new fair-use defense for unauthorized copying of old copyrighted workers if the copier was unable with reasonable effort to discover the name and address of the current holder of the copyright, several commenters point out that one of the objections to the pre-1976 system, where failure to renewal forfeited copyright, was that people often just forgot to renew or botched the renewal application. No doubt there were unfortunate such incidents. But in general forgetting to renew or botching the application is pretty good evidence that the copyright had little remaining value. People are careful with property that they think valuable. Failure to renew even if inadvertent is pretty good evidence of lack of value."

Get Your JibJab On. Wired reports in "JibJab Is Free for You and Me." From the article: "Ludlow, meanwhile, registered the song under copyright in 1956 as an original copyright registration, not the renewal. The company was apparently unaware that because Guthrie had already published the song, the terms of copyright began in 1945, not 1956, Schultz said." BoingBoing has this commentary, while Copyfight weighs in here.

INDUCE Act on the Operating Table. Wired reports that "Copyright Bill Needs Big Changes." From the article: "In response to a request from a Senate committee, consumer electronics companies and public-interest groups on Tuesday submitted changes to a controversial copyright bill that would hold technology companies liable for encouraging people to infringe copyright."

Free Mickey? Reuters reports in "Disney Asks Court to Spring Mickey Mouse." From the article: "The U.S. entertainment giant went to a South African court Tuesday seeking to set aside an order which holds some 240 of its most famous trademarks -- including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck -- hostage to the outcome of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit over the copyright to the song 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight.'"

New Round in the DVD Wars. Reuters reports that "Movie Industry Sues More DVD Chip Makers on Piracy." From the article: "The MPAA said the suits against Sigma Designs Inc. and MediaTek Inc. followed testing that it said proved the two were selling microchips to companies, whose DVD players lack what the MPAA called 'appropriate security features.'"

IP Concerns Come to the Fore at Standards Group. C-Net reports in "Microsoft quits U.N. standards group."

First Amendment Doesn't Preemptively Protect Companies Beyond U.S. Borders. Law.com reports in "On Appeal, Anti-Nazi Groups Topple Yahoo." From the article:

"Yahoo obtains commercial advantage from the fact that users located in France are able to access its Web site … Yahoo cannot expect both to benefit from the fact that its content may be viewed around the world and to be shielded from the resulting costs," Ferguson wrote for the majority. "If Yahoo violates the speech laws of another nation, it must wait for the foreign litigants to come to the United States to enforce the judgment before its First Amendment claim may be heard by a U.S. court."

The AP has this report, and Reuters has this report.