Copyright and Trademark Law

We handle many copyright and trademark disputes, which can make or break a creative business.

Trademark and copyright are different kinds of “intellectual property,” a catchall term for laws that treat certain products of the mind as property. Just as you might own a house, you also “own” your creative work (screenplays, graphic art etc.), your brand name and identity, and your proprietary “trade secrets.”

Trademark law prevents others from using your name, logo and anything else that suggests your company as the source of a product or service. The main idea of trademark law is to protect the public from confusion, which might lead them to buy an imitation because it appeared to be the real thing.

Counterfeiting is an obvious example, but there are also close calls. Does another logo look a little too much like yours? Or is a competitor’s name or packaging (trade dress) a little too similar to yours? In both cases, the question boils down to whether the public would likely be confused.

Copyright law is different: It protects creativity by preventing others from using your artwork, writing, music, photographs and songs. Here the idea behind the law against plagiarism is not so much that copying is unfair, but rather that allowing artists to control their artwork will result in a financial incentive to create, thus enriching the culture.

But again, there are close calls. For example, George Harrison got dinged for copyright infringement, because “My Sweet Lord” was too close to the Ronnette’s “He’s So Fine,” even though they don’t sound all that much alike. Drawing the line gets difficult, and the debate continues on whether intellectual property protection is too strict or too generous (see our discussion under the Arts Law page).

We have successfully represented many artists, photographers and fashion designers when their work is copied or used without their permission. We have also defended the rights of artists and designers who seek to make fair use of others’ work.