IPEG.EU: “China learning fast in IPR, also the bad habits“:

Some bad copyright practices in Europe China now emulates. Take this recent article on People’s Daily about China copyrighting ancient images. Digital technology is being used to conserve the famous Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang, in Northwest China’s Gansu Province (on UNESCO World Heritage List since 1987). The “Digital Dunhuang” project, which aims to pool all the treasures from Dunhuang, “protects its intellectual property rights (IPR) in the digital era” as it is called by the Chinese.

Lucasfilm Ltd v Ainsworth [2008] EWHC 1878 (ch) (31 July 2008):

This is a case about the reproduction of replicas of various props used in the first Star Wars film. The Star Wars films are a series of science fiction films set at some different time and in another part of the Universe, and which feature the struggle between good and evil. They contain a heavy militaristic element, and that in turn requires uniforms. This case concerns the production of uniforms for the first of the films in the series, which is known as “Star Wars IV – A New Hope” and which was first shown in 1977. It bears the number IV, even though it was the first in the series to be produced, so as to leave room for expansion backwards in time, as it were, or “prequels”. I shall simply call it “Star Wars”, or “the film”. The second claimant was the English production company for the film; all the claimant companies are, taken together, the producing or licensing companies, and it is accepted that between them they have the necessary rights (if anyone has) to bring the claims made in this action.

cloud computing.GIF
Wikipedia on Cloud Computing.
Word Mark CLOUD COMPUTING
Goods and Services:
IC 040. Custom manufacture of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others
IC 042 Design of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; customization of computer hardware for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; design and development of networks for use in data centers and mega-scale computing environments for others; Consulting services for data centers and mega-scale computing environments in the fields of design, selection, implementation, customization and use of computer hardware and software systems for others; Consulting services for data centers and mega-scale computing environments in the fields of design, selection, implementation, customization and use of computer hardware and software systems for others
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 77139082
Filing Date March 23, 2007
Published for Opposition April 15, 2008
Owner (APPLICANT) Dell Inc.
Disclaimer NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “COMPUTING” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN
Cloud Computer illustration from here.
UPDATE: 43(B)log weighs in.

43(B)log: “Copyright and California’s Anti-SLAPP Law“:

Duncan sued defendants, including the Sierra Club, based on Thomas Cohen and Kristi Cohen’s attempts to make a film of Duncan’s book The River Why. He alleged copyright infringement and various state-law claims.
The court first rejected the argument that California’s anti-SLAPP statute applied to federal claims. It then reached the same conclusion as to the state law claims. The threshold question is whether the state-law claims arise out of protected activity—the exercise of free speech.

NY Times: “On Facebook, an 11-Letter Synonym for Scrabulous Turns Out To Be Wordscraper“:

Unfortunately for Hasbro, players are not universally flocking to Hasbro’s official Scrabble game. Instead thousands are downloading Wordscraper, which has been available on Facebook since January but attracted little attention until Scrabulous shut down, and heading to their old favorite, Scrabulous, on the game’s independent Web site at www.scrabulous.com. Wordscraper had about 80,000 daily users on Facebook as of Sunday night and the Web site Scrabulous.com had thousands of players online on Sunday.

AlleyInsider: MediaSet, Silvio Berlusconi, Sue YouTube For $800 Million:

MediaSet, the dominant TV provider in Italy controlled by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, sued Google (GOOG) and YouTube in a Rome court, seeking “at least” $779 million in damages.
The Milan-based company found 4,643 videos from MediaSet companies on YouTube on June 10, representing 325 hours of broadcasting, the company said

The NY Times reports today that (1) the authorized version of SCRABBLE on Facebook was the victim of ‘a malicious attack’ by hackers and (2) Hasbro acknowledged that it had waited until the authorized version was up before moving to enjoin Scrabulous. Meanwhile, Hasbro has been subject to criticism and boycott threats.
The Scrabulous situation is a recurring one for IP owners. There is always a new platform (Facebook, the iPhone, the Web itself) presenting itself as an opportunity for a new version of a popular property (I had to tear myself away from Tap Tap Revenge to post this).
Solo developers will always have a speed advantage in getting to those new platforms first (and, if those developers have expertise native to those platforms, they may have other advantages as well, It is reported, for example,. that Scrabulous is superior to the authorized FB version of Scrabble, as it loads much quicker).
If the Agarwalla Brothers had approached Hasbro two years ago with a proposal for a FB version of Scrabble, what likely result?
If Hasbro were to pay the Agarwalla Brothers millions, what likely result?
If Hasbro had brought this action in January, 7 months prior to having its own version up and running, what likely result?
Please comment.

Counterfeit Chic: Senate Considers Enforcement of IP Rights Act of 2008:

Among the bill’s additions to existing law are the following:
Authorization of the Attorney General to bring civil, not just criminal actions — a potential benefit to intellectual property rights holders who now have to file such lawsuits on their own dime;
Enhanced penalties, including doubled statutory damages for counterfeiting (to $1,000 to $200,000 for use of a fake trademark and to $2m for doing so willfully);
New forfeiture provisions for property used to violate intellectual property rights — like that car used to transport counterfeit handbags or a computer used to download music;
More enforcement resources and personnel at the local, national, and international levels, including placement of IP law enforcement coordinators in hotspots overseas;
and
A federal Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator, a.k.a. a Copyright Czar.