How to find copyright-free images (and avoiding a stock photo subscription); TNW, April 29, 2020

MIX , TNW; How to find copyright-free images (and avoiding a stock photo subscription)

"If you search for any term and head to the Images section in Google, you’ll instantly find thousands of images. There’s one issue, though: Some of them might be copyrighted and you might be putting yourself (or your employer) at risk. Fortunately, you can filter images by usage rights, which will help you avoid that...

Here are a couple of our favorite free stock photo sites:

• Unsplash
• Pixabay
• Pexels
• StockSnap
• Burst

If you’re looking for copyright-free PNG cutouts, you should check out PNGPlay, Icon8, and PNGimg.

Even though a lot of these images are free to use without any attribution, you can support the creators by giving them credit, which in turn gives their work more exposure. You might not have the resources to purchase their images, but someone else might be interested in hiring them. Crediting them for their work helps with that.

You get to save some money by avoiding buying a Shutterstock subscription, they get free exposure. It’s a win-win."

Senators Ask U.S. Copyright, Patent Offices to Study Infringement by States; The Hollywood Reporter, April 29, 2020

Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter; Senators Ask U.S. Copyright, Patent Offices to Study Infringement by States

"In a pair of letters on Tuesday, Sens. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) asked the U.S. Copyright Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to begin a study on the extent to which intellectual property owners are suffering infringement at the hands of state government. The request by the two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee comes after a notable Supreme Court opinion in March. The study would prime new legislation on the IP front...

The senators say they want findings no later than April 30, 2021."

Supreme Court Copyright Ruling Could Shake Up Legal Publishing; Publishers weekly, April 27, 2020

Andrew Albanese, Publishers Weekly; Supreme Court Copyright Ruling Could Shake Up Legal Publishing

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court this week held that legislators "cannot be the authors of—and therefore cannot copyright—the works they create in the course of their official duties."

"In upholding the appeals court reversal, the Supreme Court held that the annotations amended to the state of Georgia’s legal code were “ineligible for copyright protection” under the “government edicts doctrine,” a legal regime developed from a trio of 19th-century Supreme Court decisions.

“The animating principle behind the government edicts doctrine is that no one can own the law,” Roberts wrote. “Over a century ago, we recognized a limitation on copyright protection for certain government work product, rooted in the Copyright Act’s ‘authorship’ requirement. Under what has been dubbed the government edicts doctrine, officials empowered to speak with the force of law cannot be the authors of—and therefore cannot copyright—the works they create in the course of their official duties.”"

Georgia Can’t Copyright Its Entire State Code, the Supreme Court Rules; The New York Times, April 27, 2020

Adam Liptak, The New York Times; Georgia Can’t Copyright Its Entire State Code, the Supreme Court Rules

In a 5-to-4 ruling with unusual alliances, the court said that annotations cannot be copyrighted if they are the official work of state lawmakers.

"Georgia may not copyright its entire official code, which includes both the state’s laws and annotations interpreting them, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday. The 5-to-4 decision featured unusual alliances and would most likely be widely felt, as about 20 other states have claimed that parts of similar annotated codes are copyrighted."

Adler astronomer files trademark lawsuit against American Girl; Associated Press via Chicago SunTimes, April 24, 2020

Associated Press via Chicago SunTimes; Adler astronomer files trademark lawsuit against American Girl

"The lawsuit notes the doll has a purple streak in her hair and wears holographic shoes, just as Walkowicz does.

“Here, the defendants used the name and likeness of Lucianne, a well-known figure in astronomy, space and STEM, who particularly studied the star Vega, in conjunction with the American Girl doll Luciana Vega without obtaining her authorization,” the lawsuit states. “In fact, the defendants incorporated the same color hair streak, shoes and style of Lucianne in the Luciana Vega doll.”"

Kielbasa rivalry heats up with trademark infringement suit; The Citizens' Voice, April 21, 2020

James Halpin, The Citizens' Voice; Kielbasa rivalry heats up with trademark infringement suit

"The owner of an award-winning Nanticoke kielbasa shop has filed a federal lawsuit alleging a competitor is illegally infringing on the business’s trademarked name.

John T. Vishnefski, owner of Tarnowski’s Kielbasa Inc. at 579 E. Main St., alleges in the complaint that Nanticoke resident Mark Tarnowski is violating his trademark by running an unaffiliated business called Tarnowski Bros. Kielbasa at 14 E. Union St."

Protecting intellectual property still matters in a pandemic; Washington Examiner, April 21, 2020

Kevin Mooney, Washington Examiner; Protecting intellectual property still matters in a pandemic

"With businesses now under pressure as a result of COVID-19, they can hardly afford to absorb the costs associated with patent allegations that cannot be substantiated under close scrutiny. 

That’s why it’s important to preserve a trial-like procedure organized within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that makes it possible to review the legitimacy of patents through a streamlined, cost-effective process that avoids expensive litigation. 

Unfortunately, some lawmakers (such as Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware) are pushing legislation that would gut and dilute what is known as the inter partes review process, which provides important safeguards against patents that should not have been issued. 

A better solution would be for policymakers to provide those businesses harmed by the coronavirus with greater assurances and predictability. They can do this by defending and strengthening the inter partes review process as a tool to eliminate low-quality, wrongly granted patents that harm the economy, stifle innovation, and cost jobs. 

There’s no disputing the fact that patent examiners are overburdened. Government records show that in 2018, there were 640,000 patent applications filed, but fewer than 8,200 patent examiners available to do a thorough review. On average, patent examiners only have about 19 hours to evaluate a patent application. Under these time constraints, a handful of ill-conceived applications are approved."