Ellen’s ethical dilemma

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on September 11, 2009 at 1:49 pm

So now that everyone on the planet has caught up to our story from yesterday on record labels suing the Ellen DeGeneres Show for violating copyrights, TheImproper.com in New York eloquently raises the point that the TV show host might have a hard time showing up for the American Idol judging she agreed to this week.

In this day of decline record sales and diminishing revenues, there is perhaps no bigger sin in the record industry, and the cavalier way in which the show dismissed the claims almost demands that she be fired from “American Idol.”

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Tags: broadcasting, cable TV, copyrights and trademarks, Ellen DeGeneres, entertainment industry, litigation, music business, Music Row, record labels  

California judge: Gibson’ Guitar Hero suit almost frivolous

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on March 4, 2009 at 12:12 am

The Nashville-based company’s claim against Activision over the blazin’ hot Guitar Hero games gets shot down in flames.

The court added that Gibson’s interpretation of its patent could be extended to cover things from a “button of a DVD remote…to a pencil tapping a table.”

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Tags: Activision Blizzard Inc., copyrights and trademarks, Gibson Guitar Corp., litigation, music business, video games  

Because we all want to bask in the umbrella’s glow right now

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on February 3, 2009 at 3:22 pm

We couldn’t it put it much better than the lead of this story:

You would think that Citigroup had enough on its plate these days, but that hasn’t stopped the financial behemoth from filing a copyright infringement suit against a Brooklyn, New York, pawnshop over a similar logo.

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Tags: banking, Citigroup Inc., copyrights and trademarks, litigation, New York