Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is a new R-rated horror film which centers around Disney’s Winnie the Pooh, but in an unexpected and shocking way. Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey focuses on Winnie the Pooh and Piglet’s struggles after being abandoned by Christopher Robin. These characters are forced to survive on their own, becoming increasingly distressed and
If you have a great idea for a new movie, television series or product and you want to pitch it to someone, how can you protect your idea from being stolen? Similarly, if you receive an unsolicited idea from an acquaintance, do you have to pay them to use the idea? While the expression of
The likely cancellation of the copyright registration for Kris Kashtanova’s 18-page illustrated book, Zarya of the Dawn, is the latest chapter in the ongoing collision between copyright law and works generated using artificial intelligence (AI). While the text of the book was written by Kashtanova, the artwork accompanying the book was all AI-generated through the
Federal copyright law says that when you finally write the last note or find the perfect last lyric for the song you’re writing, you own the song in its entirety. More specifically, as soon as your song is “fixed in any tangible medium of expression” (for example, you put the pencil down on your handwritten
Copyright laws provide authors with a “bundle of rights.” One such right is the right to perform the copyrighted work publicly. However, understanding public performance rights in the context of music can be complicated. We first have to understand what constitutes a public performance. WHAT IS A PUBLIC PERFORMANCE? The Copyright Act defines as
Like many forms of creative expression, music is protected by copyright law. That means a license is usually necessary if you create a new work using pre-existing music created by someone else (otherwise known as a “derivative work”). What rights do you need to license for music sampling? MUSIC COPYRIGHT BASICS There are two separate copyrights
Many might wonder why songwriters, recording artists, and other creative people should register their works with the U.S. Copyright Office. After all, under the current Copyright Act, registration with the Copyright Office is not required to obtain a copyright in a work. Under Section 102(a) “[c]opyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of
Here’s a situation that’s commonly misunderstood among creative collaborators: Jack and Jill agree to write a song together. They call it “Tumblin’ Down the Hill.” Jack writes the music and Jill writes the lyrics. Who owns what? A) Jack owns the music and Jill owns the lyrics. B) It depends on whether the music or
Comedians have likely been stealing jokes for as long as jokes have been told. Professional comedians make their livelihood off their own original jokes through a variety of ways including, most recently, asserting public performance rights. As a comedian, what options do you have if someone steals your stuff? What is Joke Theft? Joke theft
The latest development in the world of comedy law is a flurry of lawsuits in recent months by comedians suing Pandora and SiriusXM, and a continuing heated dispute with Spotify (who initially yanked the comedy albums of hundreds of comics off their service). The dispute is over payment of public performance royalties when these entities
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