EOC Week 11: Forced Choice

1. Kiri

            Did all of the blogs including the 20 quotes. Each blog goes into detail and has the right amount of words. Looks as if she followed the rules.

2.Christopher

            Did all of the blogs but was missing a few quotes. His work is well presented and shows effort.

3.Lana

            Did a good job except that she is missing one of the blogs as well as not have 20 quotes.

4.Nina

            Did all of the blogs but has no quotes. Her blogs also don’t look like they are 300 words each.

5.Joaquin

            Only did the first two of the assignment. Out the two they do show that he did some work but he did not put any quotes in to the project.

6.Angel

            Only did the first two of the assignment. Neither one is in extensive detail nor has she any quotes.

7.Kellie

            Did not turn in the assignment therefore cannot be graded.

Your Own Argument and Opinions

Overall for this project there was plenty that at first I did not agree with. I kept asking myself why put all of these rules and laws on something as simple as taking a picture. What was the point in all of this when many people don’t seem to listen to them as is. “In traditional trademark infringement cases, the second user of a trademark confuses consumers into believing that they are buying goods from the first user. (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 463)Upon further evaluation though I saw that there was plenty of information that I seemed to be missing or just side stepping. Through this project I have learned more about intellectual property law then a good portion of the class. By speaking with Mr. Townsend I learned that just because some people don’t obey by these laws they are in place to help. . “ The Bureau of Customs and Border Protection authorizes customs inspectors to seize any products bearing infringing marks and to contact the mark’s owner” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 396) Putting these laws into effect they do help the people. Inventors and creative thinking people do need these laws because they help to establish a hold for these people that will give them the opportunity to backlash if need be. “ When a mark is placed on the federal Principal Register, the law assumes that all other mark users anywhere in the United States will know that someone else owns that registered mark.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 403)  Of course you will always have those people who will cause problems for others. Plus you may have those people who are simply ignorant of what others want to convey to them. I believe that in order to make a start in this world with a business among other things you do kneed to establish some rules and these laws are just that. “ If the court finds that trade secret theft has occurred, it may issue an order requiring all those wrongfully in possession of the information to refrain from using it or disclosing it to others.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 529)

Rule of law

As an intellectual property lawyer Lawrence G. Townsend seemed to truly want me to know how far I could go with my photography as long as I was willing to obey by the law and had a basic understanding of copyright and trademark. As a beginning photographer I was aware of some of the things that I would have to do in order to make sure the law was followed but I was unaware of exactly how much of the law in incorporated into photography. When having say a trademark you have to go through many steps. “ Often a trademark owner may wish to vary a trademark to capitalize on marketing and cultural trends.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.473) These steps that you take make sure that you are not infringing upon something someone else may have possibly come up with. “ However, an issue arises as to whether this modification results in a new mark or whether it is a continuation of the first mark and can claim priority on that  basis.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.473) Mr. Townsend had explained to me that Intellectual Property law can be very touchy. There are ways around many things but there are also many ways to trap someone.  I was informed that even some pictures could not even be used as a mark. “ Pictures and symbols my be protectable as marks if they are distinctive rather than descriptive.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.454)  Establishing a way for intellectual property law and how it incorporates into photography was my main goal in this project. I wanted to see just how far I could take things. I needed to better understand why there were so many rules and laws that were actually related to my field. Many of the trademark and copyright laws actually help according to Mr. Townsend. He told me that when establishing a business if that is my goal I would have quite a few steps to take and one of the first would be making sure that what I wanted to come up with is a name.  He informed me that whether  I knew it or not many names become trademarks and I would have to make sure that what I chose was not infringing. “A trademark search is an investigation to discover potential conflicts between a proposed mark and an existing one.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.384)  Overall I was able to achieve a lot of knowledge on the law and how it works with photography.

Reasoning of the Law

“ When an author independently creates a work, it is considered original, even though it may be highly similar to another work created by someone else. (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 268).  When it came to answering my questions the lawyer that I chose did real well. As we were speaking on the phone we were trying to figure out the best way for him to answer my questions. Of course he had offered to answer them right then and there expect he wanted to make sure that he would understand the questions that I was asking him. We decided that it would be best for me to e-mail him the questions as well as just simple things that I wanted too know. “Using the eCO system, users can file an application for a small fee.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 251).  Mr. Townsend had informed me that if he got the questions through e-mail it would give him the chance to see each question instead of just hearing it. He had also informed me that by sending him the questions through e-mail he would have more time to spend on each one thus giving him the best chance to fully answer my questions to the best of his knowledge. He informed me that copyright can be tricky and our teacher was doing a good thing by having us research it with a lawyer. “ A copyright gives the owner of a creative work the right to keep others from unauthorized use of the work.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 196). I think that personally for him to take the time out and actually think out, with me included, the best way for him to answer these questions for me actually shows me that there are good lawyers still out there. He knew from the beginning that I was a student who was simply doing a project on intellectual property law, but, he decided to help me any way. “ Many trademarks include words or phrases that, by themselves, cannot be protected under trademark law.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 489). Mr. Townsend told me that having a good understanding of copyright and trademark law or intellectual property law in general was a good thing. For me in particular being a photography major I would defiantly need a good understanding of the former more so then the latter. Overall I believe that Mr. Townsend had a good understanding of what I would need from him and broke his logic down to ways that would also incorporate me.

Week 10 EOC; The Law and Justice 2 Movies

In the both movies that we watched Erin Brocovich and Flash of Genius you see two sides of the spectrum with Lawyers. Everyone can argue that lawyers are slime but when it comes down to it people form their ideas by things that they watch. If you set two groups up in two different rooms and showed one of the rooms movies about how lawyers use and abuse and are just in the profession for the money then those people would assume that all lawyers were this way. If you took the people in the other room and showed them movies about lawyers who are there to do the right thing and who truly want to help people then that group would think highly about lawyers. My view of the law in this class has not changed. I truly think that there are good lawyers out there and that there are bad lawyers out there. Its not a base of opinion but fact there is no one person out there who knows every lawyers that there is. So we can not group everything that we know about lawyers on the bases of the media. We put to much thought about what is being said about people  on the media. Everyone should be able to tell you that the media focuses on the bad more so then the good.

Week 10 BOC Lawyer Jokes:

DEER TRACKS
Two lawyers were out hunting when they came upon a pair of tracks. They stopped and examined the tracks closely.

The first lawyer announced, "Those are deer tracks. It's deer season, so we should follow the tracks and find our prey."

The second lawyer responded,"Those are clearly elk tracks, and elk are out of season. If we follow your advice, we'll waste the day."

Each attorney believed himself to be the superior woodsman, and they both bitterly stuck to their guns.

They were still arguing when the train hit them.

UGLY DIVORCE
Q: How do you know when your divorce is getting ugly?
A: When your lawyer doesn't seem like a bloodsucking leech anymore.

STAMP RECALL
The Post Office just recalled their latest stamps. They had pictures of lawyers on them, and people couldn't figure out which side to spit on.

HYENAS
Q: Why don't hyenas eat lawyers?
A: Even hyenas has some dignity.

SO HARD
Q: Why is it so hard to drown a lawyer?
A: Scum floats.

The Questions

All of the questions that I had asked are related to my field in one way or another. Before asking the questions I made sure that each lawyer that I had tried to contact knew that these questions would be related to Intellectual Property as much as photography.  “Copyright does not protect ideas or facts; it protects only the unique way in which ideas or facts are expressed.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.196)  I also informed them that even if they could not get the answers specifically but did know a little on the matter then just to give me what they knew. Here are a few of the questions that I asked and the answers I most enjoy. Do you need permission to take a picture of someone if you will not be able to recognize him or her? "That depends on what you mean by not be able to recognize. It may violate their right of publicity or their right of privacy... or not. But that's not a copyright issue, and of course it depends on what you are going to do with the photos (your private collection or use them in an ad for coca cola)". (Lawrence G. Townsend) " Sometimes, trade secret, copyright, patent, and trademark laws intersect with each other with respect to a particular product or service".( Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 6) I find this particular answer to be rather entertaining and to be honest I am unsure of why I think it is funny. Maybe it is because he answered it as if we were sitting in his office just having a normal conversation. Asking Mr. Townsend about copyright issues was an eye opener for me. “ Copyright lasts for the life of the work’s creator plus 70 years. “( Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 196) Is the entire ownership of an image regardless of what has been photographed the property of the photographer? "Copyright protects the expression of ideas not ideas or the objects depicted. It's your expression that is protected. If you take a picture of another photograph, what's protected in the other photograph is generally the expression of that photographer, not you, and therefore there probably isn't anything copyrightable for you." (Lawrence G. Townsend) " You may also find valuable information.....(See the intellectual property topic in the Legal Encyclopedia". (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg. 25)   I am also partial to this question because he goes into quite a bit of detail in the answer which helps to keep me informed and shows his knowledge on the subject. These are all of the questions with answers that I asked. 


 

Q1. As a photographer how much of my work is protected under a copyright?

 

ALL OF YOUR PHOTOS THAT ARE "ORIGINAL WORKS OF AUTHORSHIP" (YOU CREATED THEM) ARE PROTECTED. 
Q2. How do I know what for of intellectual property protection is available for my work? 

 

COPYRIGHT IS THE ONLY FORM OF PROTECTION FOR PHOTOS.

 
Q3. Do you need permission to take a picture of someone if you will not be able to recognize him or her? 

 

DEPENDS WHAT YOU MEAN BY NOT BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE. IT MAY VIOLATE THEIR RIGHT OF PUBLICITY OR THEIR RIGHT OF PRIVACY... OR NOT. BUT THAT'S NOT A COPYRIGHT ISSUE. AND OF COURSE IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH THE PHOTOS (YOUR PRIVATE COLLECTION OR USE THEM IN AN AD FOR COCA COLA). 
Q4. Is it illegal to Photoshop someone's picture and put it up on the Internet even if there is no profit? 

 IT'S COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT TO MAKE COPIES OF OR PUBLISH PHOTOS OF OTHERS ON THE INTERNET WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION
Q5. Is it illegal to post pictures taken of a live sporting event on the Internet? 

 

WHAT DOES YOUR TICKET ALLOW YOU TO DO? WHAT NOTICES ARE POSTED AS YOU ENTER?

 
Q6. If you get your companies name trademarked and ask other people that are using the same name to stop using it and they don't, What rights do you have against them? 

 

 IF THE PEOPLE ARE USING THE SAME NAME OR A CONFUSINGLY SIMILAR NAME AND THEY'RE USING IT FOR THE SAME OR A RELATED BUSINESS, THEN THAT MAY BE TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT.
Q7. As a photographer how do I protect my intellectual property? 

 

TOO BROAD AND OPEN-ENDED A QUESTION. GENERALLY YOU PROTECT WITH COPYRIGHT LAWS AND COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT. 

 
Q8. Is the entire ownership of an image regardless of what has been photographed the property of the photographer? 

 

COPYRIGHT PROTECTS THE EXPRESSION OF IDEAS NOT IDEAS OR THE OBJECTS DEPICITED. IT'S YOUR EXPRESSION THAT IS PROTECTED. IF  YOU TAKE A PICTURE OF ANOTHER PHOTOGRAPH, WHAT'S PROTECTED IN THE OTHER PHOTOGRAPH IS GENERALLY THE EXPRESSION OFT THAT PHOTOGRAPHER, NOT YOU, AND THEREFORE THERE PROBABLY ISN'T ANYTHING  COPYRIGHTABLE FOR YOU.

 
Q9. As a photographer what is the best way for myself to stop potential people from taking my works?
  REGISTER YOUR COPYRIGHTS AT WWW.COPYRIGHT.GOV , ESPECIALLY IF CONCERNED THEY MAY BE INFRINGED. PLACE (C) YOUR NAME ON PHOTOS DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC.
 

Legal Authority

I had originally made contact with Lawrence G. Townsend through telephone. I found him just skimming through Google online looking for Intellectual Property lawyers. Mr. Townsend is located in Sonoma California. When I had first called to inquire about his Intellectual Property skills I was introduced to his secretary, which of course all lawyers have, and she was well informed on what Mr. Townsend's practice was.” The commercial value of intellectual property comes from the ability of it owner to control and exploit it.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.4)  She told me that he in particular was strictly an Intellectual Property lawyer. She then connected me with Mr. Townsend who answered my call as soon as it went through. After multiple failures on trying to get into contact with a lawyer who was willing to give me the time of day, I was shocked at how fast he was to respond to me.  "A photographer is wondering why and advertising agency can copy her photographs without permission........When this property qualifies under law for protection it's known as Intellectual Property,"(Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.1) I started out by telling him my name, and of course my reasoning for giving him a call, I then proceeded to get to  know him through our conversation. Unfortunately after out talk more time had passed then either of us realized, so Mr. Townsend then asked me if I would be willing to email him my questions that way he was able to take more time on evaluating each of them and would also be able to give me his best answer. I later sent him my 10 questions that i had prepared earlier and he emailed me back with my answers fairly recently. He informed me a great deal on what i was asking from him, he also told me good luck on my project and that if I needed any thing else answered not to hesitate emailing or calling him. He told me plenty about how copyright works with my situation. “Copyright law protects a variety of original expressions, including art sculpture, literature, music, songs, choreography, crafts poetry, software, and photography…. and graphics.” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.196)  I believe that by his willingness to help me so readily is the major reason that he was a good choice for me. He helped me to figure out what questions of mine were the best ones for my field and took the time out to give me more then a one-word answer. He talked to me and helped to figure out exactly what I needed from him when I myself was still unsure. “In the United States, copyright protection derives from the U.S. Constitution, which requires that original works of authorship be protected by copyright..” (Patent, Copyright & Trademark an intellectual property desk reference, Richard Stim, pg.200)

Week9 EOC: Letters of Permission

The four letters of permission that I decided to go with are all in one way or another related to my field of study. The first form that I went with was a property release form due to the fact that in photography objects will be in the photographs. By having the property release form it allows me to take those pictures without the possibility of lawsuit. The second form that I chose to use was a model release form. This form allows myself as well as the model to make sure that our right are protected. This form allows for me to use pictures of the model in any way shape or form that is not derogatory unless other wise stated in the release form agreement, without possibility of legal action.  The third for that I used was the web site linking agreement. I chose this form because it allows me and my website as well as the website of the release form to be included into my works. The final form that I used was the photography permission form. This for allows for me to take pictures of people and or objects that maybe required for my field of work. 

Week 8 EOC: Bratz Brawl

The big controversy on weather or not the inventor of Bratz dolls violated his agreement with Mattel has been stretched out. Trade secret violations about the Bratz doll have gone too far. I Believe that since Mattel was awarded with 100 million dollars you would think that this would be enough for them. Wrong. Mattel believes that they should own all right to the Bratz doll. It is true that inventor of Bratz was in violation due to the fact that his contract with Mattel clearly stated that all things invented while employed with them belong to the company. This is in effect regardless of weather or not he invented the toy on his own time or at the company itself. While I’m sure plenty of other company’s infiltrate their competitors in order to figure out what there new competition will be but the fact that Mattel got caught in the process was over the top. "All of these statements by Mr. Larian were gratuitous and volunteered; are false; and have tainted the trial proceedings such that Mattel cannot get a fair trial," the motion states. While Larian says that all of this trouble over the dolls and how his family is being destroyed are also outrageous. "He clearly associated (his father's) death with the litigation, and it's been an extremely traumatic and emotional experience for him and his family," Parachini said. "He was very upset and is very upset about that." If he continues to go the way that he is not only will Mattel get more because of Bratz but then they could also go for him in other cases such as slander.  “Barbie stands for good,” it said. “All others stand for evil.” This statement to me is funny because Barbie has made Mattel for what it is and she is suppose to represent innocence so then why would they continue going after more from Bratz when they represent the complete opposite?

Week 8 Boc: Progress Contact Lawyer

So far my experience in finding a lawyer has not been too successful. I am actually trying to do a project within a project. I am trying to find out which state will be the most helpful in my research and I am starting with the initial ten lawyers that I found. I so far have managed to call five of the ten and out of the five I was told that two were in meetings, one  could not help me, one would call me back, and the final one just hung up on me. So my initial search and conclusion is that this project will be no where near as easy as I originally thought. I am still going to approach this in the same manner that I have started and I am going to call back one of the lawyer, the one from North Dakota so far had seemed like they were going to help me and sounded intrigued when I told them that I was from Las Vegas. I understand lawyers are busy people and I just need to stay persistent.