Joe Merante's Blog

This one's been sitting around for about six months; I knew that similar research must exist somewhere and figured that I might as well just post it since I won't get around to researching the issue in the near future, or ever.  The idea is to look at the race and/or ethnicity of the random NYC pedestrians chosen by contestants on the television show Cash Cab, the show where unsuspecting NYC cab passengers might get into the "Cash Cab" and have the chance to answer trivia questions for money on the way to their destination. The show’s rules are basically that the questions get harder and worth more as time goes on, and three strikes and you’re out (i.e. kicked out of the cab, even if not at your destination yet).  If contestants do not know the answer to a question, they are given one mobile shout-out and one street shout-out.  If they use their street shout-out, the host tells them to “choose a pedestrian who you think might know the answer.”  I became intereste...

Like many, I use my real name in my Gmail email address.  I swear by the service and have had an account since they became publicly available.  Earlier today, someone re-sent me an email they mistakenly sent to firstname.lastname@gmail.com, whereas mine is the last.first@gmail.com.  So, I tried to register the former as a catchall but it's not available.  I wondered whether another Joe Merante had claimed it.  There are more than one of us out there, although we don't have a town named after us and no yearly gathering (yet?), unlike the Phil Campbells of the world.  (Sadly, while searching for links to Phil Campbell, AL and the Phil Campbell Convention, I noticed the town has recently been devastated by a tornado.  You can help here .)  I couldn't find another claim to a similar email address but remembered the feature in Gmail that will deliver a message even if there is a (misplaced) period anywhere in a recipient's address.  For example,...

The blogosphere has been abuzz with discussion of the antics of Righthaven, a company that contracted with a Las Vegas newspaper to sue bloggers and others over allegedly infringed copyrights and split the payments 50-50.  The most recent turn of events involves the unsealing of Righthaven’s contract with Stephens Media, the parent company of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, describing the above agreement.  Stephens has not actually assigned the copyrights, they have merely assigned accrued causes of action.  Under Silvers v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. , 402 F. 3d 881 (9th Cir. 2005) , this is clearly impermissible.  Thus, much-anticipated fair use considerations in the case may never be reached since it will (likely) get booted first. After reading Silvers, a few things struck me.  Nancy Silvers wrote a script as a work-for-hire for Frank & Bob Films.  Later, when Sony allegedly infringed the copyright, the company executed an “Assignment of...

Update July 2012: Although the agency later reversed its decision, Flying Dog still pursued the case and has now lost in Michigan District Court. The brewery plans to appeal . I'll post the decision if I come across a copy. According to a complaint filed by the Flying Dog Brewery against the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, the Commission has prevented the brewery from selling their popular Raging Bitch Twentieth Anniversary Belgian-Style India Pale Ale in Michigan, now the company's top selling beer.  The complaint details the history of the brewery and how its founder's relationship with artist Ralph Steadman has contributed the creative naming and label designs in the "Gonzo" spirit.  Even if the beer weren't so delicious, I'd still feel the same way about the case. In late 2009 and affirmed in the summer of 2010, the Commission refused to approve the brewery's Raging Bitch label: The Commission finds that the proposed label which inclu...

PatentlyO, the leading patent law analysis site, offers a summary of a recent 8th Circuit case about the contours of the public domain.  Basically, a group of companies (AVELA) took images from public domain promotional movie posters of the Wizard of Oz and licensed them to various manufacturers of t-shirts and other novelty items.  Warner Brothers (WB) claimed that their (derivative work) copyright in the film's depiction of the characters is infringed by AVELA's use of the public domain posters depicting those same characters.  There are other works involved, and plenty of nitty gritty copyright geekery.  If you find cases like Stewart v. Abend (the Rear Window case) interesting, read on or check out the briefs .  As PatentlyO summarizes: "On summary judgment, the Missouri-based district court agreed that the defendant had not copied any images from the films, but still held that the defendant was liable for infringing the film copyrights."  ...

The Main Event Last night I attended a great event at Cardozo Law School titled Our Bizarre System For Proving Copyright Infringement , also the name of Professor Mark Lemley’s paper which the four distinguished panelists, including Lemley, discussed.  Thanks to the school and panelists for hosting a very interesting and informative event.  Each panelist provided commentary on the paper before a few audience questions, followed by a reception where I once again had the opportunity to engage in a spirited discussion of the merits of Creative Commons licensing ( round one here ).  In other words, arguing with old ladies. Professor Lemley began by providing an excellent summary of the existing standards and the slight variations by circuit in the test for proving copyright infringement.  Two formulations of essentially the same procedure are followed to determine whether there is substantial similarity between two works, resulting in infringement.  Arnstein v. ...

While working on a research proposal, I drafted: This experience also highlights a broader trend: the immeasurable wealth produced by “free” platforms that has finally forced a reexamination of our information laws and policies.  MS Word grammar check suggested: This experience also highlights a broader trend: the immeasurable wealth produced by “free”, a platform that has finally forced a reexamination of our information laws and policies.