On May 21, 2020, the United States Copyright Office published its long awaited 512 (c) report and issued recommendations. The Copyright Office’s report looks at Congress’ intent in enacting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which offered service providers safe harbors to provide incentives for internet platforms and copyright owners to cooperate in order to detect and deal with copyright infringements in the online environment. The Report looks at that balance in light of the changes in the internet in the past 20-plus years and concludes that the current operation of the section 512 safe harbor system is unbalanced, with copyright owners bearing too much of the burden to deter piracy<
The Appellate Court of the Second Circuit in New York has decided an important important case for photographers regarding registrations and “Look Back” periods for copyright damages (Sohm v. Scholastic Inc., No. 18-2110, 2020 WL 2375056 (2d Cir. May 12, 2020). The court upheld the validity of the copyright registration procedure utilized by photography licensing agencies like Corbis Corporation, and held that courts may award copyright damages only for the three-year period preceding commencement of the action.
Action by the DMLA and other photography trade associations successfully headed off proposed legislation by the Maryland Senate Finance Committee aimed at preventing copyright owners from “making certain assertions of copyright infringement in bad faith”. The bill stipulated that a court may consider, among other factors, the absence of a certificate of copyright registration accompanying the letter as evidence of bad faith.
The New York Federal District Court has issued a ruling that will make it very difficult for photographers to make significant recoveries for unauthorized uses of their images unless the images were registered in advance. This ruling also makes it imperative for photographers to register their images prior to offering them for licensing. And finally, the ruling may encourage more unauthorized use because the penalties for such are less severe.
Nancy Wolff, Esq., General Counsel for PACA, has provided some history on the Freeny Patent and reviewed the latest legal maneuvers to help readers understand the implications for the Stock
Photo Industry. This article was first published in the PACA Newsletter on July 13, 2004 and is reprinted with Permission of Ms. Wolff and PACA.
This article by Nancy E. Wolff, Counsel for PACA outlines the legal risks according to current U.S. law when photographing people at work or play using ordinary objects. The second part of the article deals with photographing buildings, trademark protection, trade dress and fair use.
Nancy Wolff, PACA Counsel, provides a concise explanation of copyright rules in the United States relative to the duration of a copyright.
Nancy Wolff reports legal developments in trademarking of landmarks.