Peter Sellers was an immensely talented British actor, known for his roles in Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, Being There, and his most famous role as Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther movies. He was at his peak in the 1960’s and ‘70’s. One of Sellers’ earlier roles was in the 1959 movie The Mouse that Roared,…
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Illinois Courts Attempt to Distinguish SLAPP Suits From Legitimate Defamation Claims
Lawyers and legislators are fond of acronyms. It is rare that a significant bill in Congress does not have one of these mnemonics. Everyone knows of the USA PATRIOT Act, but few realize that it is actually the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. One of…
Trolls Often Lurk Under Intellectual Property Bridges
This article originally went to press on December 21, the last day of the Mayan calendar, but more optimistically, the first day of winter. At least in North America it is the first day of winter. I am reminded of the distinction because I was invited to make a presentation recently in beautiful Punte del…
The De Minimis Doctrine Plays an Important Role in Copyright Law
Every good lawyer needs to know a little Latin. While copyright litigators rarely need to think about quare clausum fregit (trespass on another’s land) or qui peccat ebrius luat sobrius (“He who sins when drunk shall be punished when sober”), they do occasionally have to deal with the maxim de minimis non curat lex (“the…
Rule 224 Can Lead to Disclosure of Identity in Internet Defamation Cases
What is it that compels people to post snarky comments on Internet comment boards? The seeming anonymity emboldens cyber-commenters to write things that the better angels of their nature would hold in check in a face to face conversation. There is little to be gained (perhaps some smug satisfaction or slight notoriety among a niche…
Court Upholds Single Color Trademark Protection For High Fashion Shoe Designer
I had to resort to Wikipedia to find out who Christian Louboutin is. His life has been nothing less than a French Horatio Alger story. Born in Paris in 1963, he was the son of a cabinet maker. Thrice expelled from school, he ran away from home at age 12. He roamed the world, spending…
E-Book Publishing Leads to Clash Between Digital Giants
When Amazon introduced the Kindle in 2007, I was of the opinion that e-books would never catch on. Why would anyone want to spoil the enjoyment of reading a good book by doing it on an odd looking gray toned screen? Certainly the tactile and olfactory joy of opening the fresh new pages of The…
Visual Artists Rights Act Provides Congress’ Answer to an Eternal Question
“Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings he has lived through, and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them. . . . Art is not, as the metaphysicians say, the manifestation of some mysterious…
South Park Parody is Fair Use
Oh, the indignities to which our judiciary is sometimes subjected! Judge Richard Cudahy — West Point grad, Army Air Corps, Yale Law – has sat on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals for 33 years. My suspicion is that he is not a frequent viewer of the animated television show “South Park.” My firm conviction…
IP Lawyer Unlocks the Mystery of Cubs’ Curse
Recently we suffered the bitter disappointment of the Bulls loss to Philadelphia in the final seconds of game six of the first round of the NBA playoffs. This was supposed to be the year for the Bulls to take down the Miami Heat on their way to the NBA title. Though this wound is still…