Protecting brands

Greenpeace has decided to capitalise on the current anti-BP feeling by sponsoring a competition for graphic designers to “re-design” the BP logo.
According to them, “BP’s slick green logo doesn’t suit a company that wants to invest in tar sands, the dirtiest oil there currently is.”
Contestants are encouraged to modify the logo to match evil BP’s [...]

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The organiser of themed dinner parties has been warned by Warner Bros against holding a Harry Potter party on Halloween.
Warner Bros pulled out the trade mark and copyright guns and alleged infringement.
This reminds me of the time Disney told a kindergarten they weren’t allowed to have a Disney themed concert.
Can the studios prevent themed parties?
Not [...]

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Microsoft has opened its second flagship retail store (bottom left), and some are saying that these are copies of the Apple stores.
Similarities are lots of open space and broad, clean tables with equipment for customers to try.
Perhaps Microsoft was inspired by the design of Apple stores, which have certainly been successful in showcasing Apple products.
The real issue [...]

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Shepard Fairey has now admitted that he based his iconic poster on a different photo than originally claimed, despite his aggressive decision to sue The Associated Press after they accused him of copyright infringement.
Now it seems AP had correctly identified the source photo after all. Worse, Fairey has admitted fabricating evidence: “In an attempt to [...]

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There have been quite a few fashion copying cases recently.
And I have been getting calls from designers asking how they can protect their designs.
I don’t have a lot of time to give telephone advice, so I have been wondering whether it is worthwhile conducting a seminar on protection of fashion designs.
At a seminar I would [...]

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One of my favourite photographers is Annie Leibovitz (famous for her photo of a nude and heavily pregnant Demi Moore).
She is one of the highest paid photographers in the world, but despite this, borrowed US$24 million from Art Capital Group. As collateral, the company took her two homes, all her negatives, the copyright to her [...]

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When I was in Shanghai last week, I bought a number of Chinese and English music CDs – not only are original CDs cheaper but, naturally, it’s possible to find music from more obscure Chinese performers. I took the CDs (together with some baby clothes I bought for my unofficial goddaughter Maya) to the nearest [...]

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The Swedish Pirate Party are gaining political ground in the race for votes to win a seat in the European Parliament. The Swedish Pirate Party was started by the the founders of controversial BitTorrent sharing website Pirate Bay. The party has gained notoriety (and votes) from recent court cases alleging that the Pirate Bay website [...]

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India’s Congress Party has bought a licence to use Jai Ho, the Oscar winning song from the film Slumdog Millionaire for approximately AUS$300,000. The Congress Party have wasted no time in claiming political rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has infringed Congress’ rights for playing the song during a political event.
Popular Bollywood songs are often [...]

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Alvin Singh developed an iPhone app to offer Sydney train and ferry timetables and offered it on the iTunes app store. RailCorp – NSW’s public transport corporation – threatened Mr Singh with copyright infringement litigation if he continued to sell the app, asserting ownership of copyright in the timetables.
After an investigation by Asher Moses of [...]

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