Balough
April 23, 2018
(April 23, 2018) Not only did Naruto lose its “next friend” PETA, but now it has formally lost its appeal to assert a copyright claim for the famous Monkey Selfies. The Ninth Circuit found that the crested macaque, as a non-human animal, lacks “statutory standing” to maintain a cause of action for infringement under the […]
Balough
April 22, 2018
(March 17, 2018) The news media has reached out to Balough Law Offices for comments regarding three recent developments in the law. Cheryl Dancey Balough was interviewed by the Cook County Record regarding whether embedded content in social media violate copyright law. For our story on the case, click here. Richard C. Balough was interviewed […]
Balough
March 27, 2018
(March 27, 2018) Great Minds and FedEx Office and Print Services, Inc. don’t think alike, especially when it comes to copying Great Minds documents. The non-profit organization designs educational materials, releasing them to the public without charge subject to a Creative Commons license. As long as the user did not charge for the materials, Great […]
Balough
March 16, 2018
(March 16. 2018) A website that allows anyone to post videos and images, includes in its terms of use a prohibition against posting copyrighted material, and upon notice promptly takes down infringing materials is protected from copyright infringement liability under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Ventura Content, Ltd., which creates and distributes pornographic movies, […]
Balough
March 15, 2018
(March 15, 2018) Cybercriminals are following the money and it is leading them to cryptocurrency. In the March 2018 McAfee Labs Threats Report, the company found “one of the biggest developments in cybercrime is an increasing emphasis on cryptocurrency hijacking, which coincided with the increased market interest in digital currencies.” The criminal interest in cryptocurrency […]
Balough
February 28, 2018
(February 28, 2018) A Nike, Inc.-commissioned photograph of Michael Jordan flying through the air holding a basketball with the Chicago skyline in the background did not infringe the copyright of a photograph of the basketball legend taken by famous photographer Jacobus Rentmeester. The Ninth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment in favor of Nike, finding that, […]
Balough
February 20, 2018
(February 20, 2018) The widespread practice of embedding links to images and videos on other sites is copyright infringement, according to a New York U.S. district court. The court rejected the Ninth and Seventh Circuit’s use of the “server test,” which states there is no copyright infringement as long as the original image remains on […]
Balough
February 16, 2018
(February 14, 2018) Richard C. Balough discussed libel and privacy law in the Trump era as part of a journalism class at the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Balough explored President Trump’s statement that “our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace and do not represent American values or American fairness” in light […]
Balough
February 11, 2018
(February 11, 2018) The lack of a serial comma in a statute has cost a Maine dairy $5 million in a settlement with truck drivers who originally were denied overtime pay. The case gained the attention of English majors because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit devoted 17 pages of its 29-page […]
Balough
February 9, 2018
(February 9, 2018) A Grubhub driver was an independent contractor and not an employee of the online food ordering and delivery service because the company lacks control over the driver’s work. The California district court noted it is an “all-or-nothing proposition” whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor. “With the advent of the […]
