If you loved me...

You'd buy this for me. #nerdpresents #mewantsit

Trademark Law with a Side of '90s Nostalgia.

Did you hear? Kozmo.com is back. Sort of. A few months after DC tore down the last vestiges of the short-lived VC darling, the Kozmo website has been brought back to life. But despite a landing page asking "Remember us?" and the familiar orange and green colors, this isn't your older brother's Kozmo. No, the entity behind the new Kozmo is a California-based grocer that is trying to reanimate everyone's favorite same-day-delivery brand. But how far is too far? Putting aside the question of whether Kozmo retains residual goodwill (or whether such a thing even exists), should the law nonetheless frown upon a new owner trying to confuse the public that the same "us" is behind the new venture as the old? Assuming that the original team behind Kozmo has moved on and doesn't want to bring a Lanham Act claim, should those who knew and loved Kozmo nevertheless have a right not to be mislead about the relationship between the new and old ventures?

Vindication (Sort Of)

I've been arguing (privately, at least) that the Copyright Act preempts the hot news doctrine for a while now. (Making that argument during an interview for a position at the Copyright Office was perhaps not the best idea.) But it looks like yesterday the Second Circuit lent some support to that position. I would have liked to see the Second Circuit go further, but it seems pretty clear to me that media outfits that follow the news aggregation Best Practices set out in the CMLP white paper should have a pretty strong argument for preemption. More on the decision.

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Announcing: "Journalism’s Digital Transition: Unique Legal Challenges and Opportunities" @ Harvard Law School April 9, 2010

Announcing a one-day symposium and CLE program on Friday April 9, 2010 hosted by the Citizen Media Law Project and Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center to celebrate the launch of the Online Media Legal Network (OMLN). The Network supports promising ventures and innovative thinkers in online and digital media by providing access to legal help that would otherwise be unavailable.

Entitled “Journalism’s Digital Transition: Unique Legal Challenges and Opportunities,” the program will bring together panels of academics, legal practitioners, and journalists. Topics will include:

• Saving Journalim From Itself? Hot News, Copyright Fair Use and News Aggregation
• Building and Managing Online Communities – Anonymity, Defamation and Privacy, Oh My!
• The Future of Journalism: Law and Ethics in a Changing Media Ecosystem

For more information, please see the conference website.

Something for the Family Guy Fans Out There. PrawfsBlawg has this assessment of a recent court decision in a copyright infringement case brought by Arthur Metrano over a scene in the movie Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.

All Google, All the Time. Alexander Macgillivray, Deputy General Counsel for Products and Intellectual Property at Google, returned to @berkmancenter today for an engaging discussion of the Google Book Settlement. And John Palfrey has an announcement about two upcoming events to discuss the settlement. Meanwhile, Google has gone where few have gone before by winning a libel case in the UK (although a website in Amsterdam wasn't that lucky). And finally, Ars Technica reports that Barnes & Noble has teamed up with Google to build a library of over 700,000 books for its new e-book marketplace. Interestingly, B&N will be offering electronic copies of public domain books, scanned as part of the Google Book Search service, for free.

I Couldn't Pass Up the Headline. The AmLaw Daily has this post today about the on-going legal battle between Tolkien's heirs and New Line Cinema regarding royalties from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The headline? "Nerd Law Heaven."

IP Law 101 for the Sports Fan. AmLaw Daily has this article about a recently filed trademark/copyright infringement case involving baseball trading cards.

Around the Center. The latest from the Berkman Center: John Palfrey has a post titled "ONI Releases Green Dam Software Analysis." JZ has this take on the use of Twitter to disseminate news about the goings-on in Iran.

More on the Salinger Case. THR, Esq. has the latest.

Seems Like Bad Precedent. Where's the deterrence factor for prosecutorial misconduct if the judge can just shoehorn the evidence in later at the sentencing phase? The Blog of the Legal Times reports.

Big Day for Music Cases. The Insider reports that the Lemonhead's lead singer, Evan Dando, has sued GM over use of "It's a Shame About Ray" in a 2008 TV campaign. And just last week a federal judge had a bit of fun with Bon Jovi song titles. (I'm having to exercise all sorts of self restraint to avoid a YouTube linkfest...)

Does Austrailian Copyright Law Not Have a Statute of Limitations Provision? Certainly they should have figured out the supposed similarity earlier.
Check it out for yourself:

I Always Knew Cap'n Crunch Was Shady. ABA Journal is reporting that a judge has tossed out a deceptive advertising complaint against Cap'n Crunch cereal.

I'm Feeling Special. First we get a First Lady, now we get a Supreme Court Justice.

The Wind Done Gone 2.0? The Media Law Prof Blog reports on a recent case filed by J.D. Salinger to halt publication of a "sequel" to Catcher in the Rye. Remix culture? Mark Randazza offers his own thoughts. And the Wall Street Journal has more here.

More Grist for the Anti-tethered Appliance Mill? Apple once again provides ammunition for JZ's fears.

That's One Way to Find a Job... Read all about how one guy from Italy got hired by Amazon through Second Life.

Time to Add "Rap Artist" to the List... of alternate career paths for lawyers. The ABA Journal has the details.