Posts Tagged ‘apparel’

Suit over banana costume: a closet full of wearable-copyright disputes?

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands on cheerleader uniforms has generated new uncertainty as to where a line falls between useful aspects of apparel, which are not copyrightable, and decorative aspects, which are. “The ruling is widely expected to lead to increased litigation in the fashion industry.” A lawsuit against Kmart over its sale of a banana costume “could be the first in a wave of copyright lawsuits over fairly generic Halloween costume designs.” [Timothy Lee, ArsTechnica; Bill Duhart, NJ.com; Polly Mosendz and Kim Bhasin, Bloomberg]

Frontiers of the “right of publicity”

In general it’s actionable to claim, without a Hollywood celebrity’s consent, that he or she recommends or endorses your fashion item. But what about merely asserting, accurately, that the character played by the celebrity wore the item in a movie? Or publicizing a picture taken in a public place of the celebrity shopping for one’s product or at one’s store? Lawsuits filed on behalf of actresses Sandra Bullock, Katherine Heigl, and Halle Berry may help shed light on the question. [Mike Masnick, TechDirt]

February 20 roundup

  • “Woman Arrested Nine Years After Failing to Return Rented Video” [S.C.: Lowering the Bar, more]
  • “Why India’s Ban Against Child Labor Increased Child Labor” [James Schneider, EconLib]
  • “I’ve never seen an attorney general sanctioned.” Court hits Nevada AG Catherine Cortez Masto with sanctions after collapse of robosigning suit against mortgage servicer that state hired D.C.’s Cohen Milstein to bring [Daniel Fisher, update (case settles)]
  • Another review of the new collection The American Illness: Essays on the Rule of Law (Frank Buckley, ed.) [Bainbridge, earlier]
  • They would be major: “The Gains from Getting Rid of ‘Run Amok’ Occupational Licensing” [David Henderson]
  • E-cigarettes could save lives [Sally Satel, Washington Post]
  • How incentives to avoid tax can lead to social tragedy, in this case via ABBA stage outfits [Guardian]

January 17 roundup

“Hells Angels lawsuit accuses Dillard’s of trademark infringement”

“Hells Angels is suing 8732 Apparel and Dillard’s Inc. in federal court, claiming trademark infringement of its famous skull-with-wings logo known as the Hells Angels Death Head.” [My San Antonio] The U.S. Department of Justice along with various state law enforcement agencies have deemed the celebrated motorcycle gang to be an organized criminal enterprise.