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- I'm Tom Galvani, a patent and trademark lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona. I help inventors, entrepreneurs, and businesses develop and control their intellectual property. I host this site and the blog on it to give you an idea of the services I provide and to keep you updated on current developments and helpful information related to patents, trademarks, and copyright.
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Category Archives: Copyright
Copyright Infringement on the Web – DMCA Takedown Notices
Congress created a procedure that content owners can use to ask websites to remove content protected by their copyright. The mechanism creates an incentive for webhosts, internet services providers, and search engines to remove (or at least investigate removing) material … Continue reading
TED Talk: Johanna Blakley: Lessons from fashion’s free culture
In this video, Johanna Blakley provides a good overview of the interaction between copyright and fashion. There are some slight inaccuracies in what she presents, but overall it is an excellent talk. And her remarks in the last few minutes … Continue reading
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A Lesson in Copyrights and Licensing from The Verve
Do you remember the song Bittersweet Symphony? It was a huge hit around the world in 1997, used in movies, TV shows, and commercials. It has been sampled many times for re-use in other songs. The hit was written and performed … Continue reading
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Is Web Scraping Legal?
I had a friend get in touch with me a while back about the legalities of web scraping. He found, and I’m finding too, a tremendous lack of information about web scraping. I think this is a result of there being so many strange ramifications depending on the many variables in the facts of each situation. I got interested in the legal issues involved in web scraping, and so I put together a hypothetical to test some of them out. Continue reading
Take Down Duties for Copyrighted Material
Ben Sheffner writes about the recent Viacom v. YouTube case, which he finds extremely disappointing in its dodging of the question of what, besides an official takedown notice, can require an online content provider to remove copyrighted material. Quick background: … Continue reading
Think Only Record Companies are Suing? Think Again.
Everyone knows of the widespread copyright infringement the Internet made possible. And I think most of us are aware that the RIAA and record studios have been the most visible face of copyright infringement lawsuits. But movie studios also sue. … Continue reading
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Copyright Fair Use
Just because something is protected by copyright doesn’t mean it’s hands-off to you. In some situations, you are allowed to reproduce such material. Newscasts rely on this exception to copyright protection often, showing clips of movies, tv shows, commercials. A … Continue reading
Enlighted Designs bridges copyright-patent gap with lighted clothing
Fellow Harvey Mudd College grad Janet Hansen, who is President and Chief Fashion engineer of Enlighted Designs, has found, perhaps inadvertently, a way to combat the inability to get copyright protection in clothing design. While you generally can’t protect the … Continue reading
Placing a Copyright Notice on your Work
Marking your work with a copyright notice does a number of things: – notifies the public that the work is protected by copyright and that the owner takes that protection seriously – distinguishes the work as not being in the … Continue reading
Works Made For Hire, Independent Contractors, and Employees
A business doesn’t necessarily own everything created by its workers. The question of ownership comes down to many factors, chief among them being the presence of an employment contract. Employees typically produce work that is owned by the business – … Continue reading

