There’s a great article in today’s WSJ about the increasing trademark infringement litigation among US nonprofits. The “naming” of a nonprofit is a topic I spend quite a bit of time covering every time I teach a class on nonprofit tax-exempt organizations. Choosing a name for a nonprofit is, for many, an emotional predicament. Many founders feel attached to a certain name they have been using pre-incorporation, and many times (if not always), without ever checking to see if the name they are using is a registered trademark. Read the rest of this entry »

Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno has already raised fines for graffiti from a minimum of €25 ($32) to €300 ($395) and introduced a new law that ordered anyone caught spray-painting the capital to clean it up personally. Now, American’s living abroad are taking matters into their own hands and helping the Italian capital clean its streets and walls of unwanted expressionism.

Via the WSJ.

The Senate unanimously approved legislation Monday night to clarify copyright laws. The Copyright Cleanup, Clarification and Corrections Act, introduced Monday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and ranking member Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), implements several recommendations from the Copyright Office to make the agency’s operations more efficient. The bill also clarifies aspects of copyright law that are either ambiguous or have been made unclear by recent court decisions.

“Creators of intellectual work need assurances about their artistic rights, and it’s important that our laws take into account modern technology,” Sessions said. A very good–and welcome–change for visual artists.

Via The Hill.

Upper East Side art gallery giant Lawrence Salander was finally sentenced today to serve at least six years behind bars for a massive, decade-long, $120 million fraud scheme. Salander, 60, was cuffed and carted off to prison in punishment for soaking a roster of 29 wealthy friends and investors, including John McEnroe, Robert De Niro, and some of the East Coast art world’s biggest investors and owners. “There is no excuse. There is no justification,” Manhattan Supreme Court Michael Obus said in rendering his sentence. “The conduct of the defendant has caused terrible damage,” he added, calling the scheme “deplorable,” and noting that its damage was not only financial, but emotional.

Via The New York Post.

Here’s the latest on the alleged Anselm Adams treasure trove.

Trying to catch up. From last week.

A Brooklyn photographer is suing producers of “Fela!,” alleging that the Broadway musical used a photograph she took of Afrobeat legend Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s famed Shrine without her permission. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Monday, seeks at least $150,000 in damages for copyright infringement.

Via the WSJ.

The Library of Congress added five new exemptions to its Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) yesterday. The DMCA is a US copyright law that criminalizes attempts to bypass digital copyrights. Originally passed in 1998, the act is revisited every three years, with new exceptions added based on changing technology. PC World has a precise overview of the new exemptions, the top one for us being the use of copyrighted material on DVD:

“College professors and students, documentary filmmakers, and those making noncommercial videos, are now able to circumvent the copyright protection on DVDs in order to use short clips from those DVDs in new works “for the purpose of criticism or comment.” The exemption was previously in place for professors, but has now been expanded to include students and filmmakers. The exception does not allow for users to copy whole works, or for individuals to create backups of DVDs they personally own[.]”

Don’t get too crazy about this. Note the “noncommercial” language as well as the “criticism or comment” aspect of the use. Still, a huge break for documentary filmmakers, students, and professors! Who said copyright law was unfair? You can also view the Library of Congress’ Newsletter covering this topic here.