Andy Warhol’s Prince Prints: Not Fair Use!? (Part One)



In this week’s episode, attorneys Josh Escovedo and Scott Hervey discuss the litigation over Andy Warhol’s series of portraits of the artist Prince (Andy Warhol Foundation v Goldsmith). Their discussion covers the Second Circuit decision in favor of Goldsmith, the photographer whose image Warhol used to create the Prince Portraits, and the holding that Warhol’s renditions were not transformative enough to be fair use. The decision overturned a lower court decision in favor of the Warhol Foundation.

Production Note: This episode includes a discussion of the high-profile litigation between the artist Shepard Fairey and the Associated Press over Fairey’s iconic “Hope” poster of then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Throughout the episode, Scott and Josh mispronounce Fairey’s last name as “Farley.” They offer apologies to listeners and to the artist.

Watch a video version of this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here.

Listen to part two of this topic here.

Watch part two of this topic here.


What’s In a Name: Clearing Titles for Film and Television



In this week’s episode, attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the process of clearing titles for Film and Television shows. They discuss recent high-stakes litigation around entertainment titles, including Stouffer v. National Geographic Partners LLC, Jon Astor-White v. Daniel Strong (Empire), and the “Honey Badger” case.

Watch this episode on YouTube here.

Watch a previous episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog discussing the Empire litigation, here.

Read an article Scott wrote on how the Empire litigation extended the permitted use of third-party trademarks on The IP Law Blog, here.

Read an article on The IP Law Blog about the “Honey Badger” case, here.


Defamation Lawsuit Against Netflix Dropped + New York Protects Dead Celebrities



Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss two topics in this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog. First, they talk about GEO Group’s defamation lawsuit against Netflix over the show “Messiah,” which was just dropped. Then, at 8:20, they move on to New York’s new post-mortem Right of Publicity law.

Watch this episode on Weintraub Tobin’s YouTube channel.

For more information on the New York statute, read Scott’s post on the IP Law Blog: I See Dead People…Filing Lawsuits in New York.


SPIN Trademark Has Peloton Wrapped Around the Axel



In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Peloton petitions to establish that SPIN and SPINNING are generic terms and can’t be trademarked. Josh and Scott discuss Peloton bringing a case against Mad Dogg’s trademarks and how they are now generic.

Watch this episode on YouTube, here.

Read Scott Hervey’s article about the topic on the IP Law Blog.


“Inspired By” Characters – Defamation Lawsuit As a Spinoff Part II



In this second of two episodes on this topic, Weintraub Tobin attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss defamation lawsuits in movies and TV that deal with “Inspired by” characters.

Watch this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here.

Listen to part one of this series here.

Read Scott Hervey’s blog post about this topic on the IP Law Blog.


“Inspired By” Characters – Defamation Lawsuit As a Spinoff Part I



This episode is part one of a two-part series of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog in which Weintraub Tobin attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss defamation lawsuits in movies and TV that deal with “Inspired by” characters.

Watch this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here.

Listen to part two of the series here.

Watch part two of the series here.

Read Scott Hervey’s blog post about this topic on the IP Law Blog.


Hard Cider Maker Can’t Whine About Trademark Opposition



In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub Tobin IP attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss a recent decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board involving winemaker Delicato Vineyards and a hard cider maker from Virginia.

Delicato Vineyards, which owns the trademark GNARLEY HEAD for wine, opposed the registration of GNARLED ORCHARD for hard cider.

Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here.


The Ninth Circuit Affirms That Comic-Con isn’t Generic



In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, intellectual property attorney Scott Hervey talks with co-host Josh Escovedo about Josh’s article “The Ninth Circuit Affirms Ruling that COMIC-CON isn’t Generic for Comic Conventions.”

Watch this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here.

Read Josh’s article on the IP Law Blog.


9th Circuit Provides Clear Copyright Guidance for Producers of Bio Pics



In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub Tobin attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss copyright litigation around the “Jersey Boys” — a musical and movie about The Four Seasons– involving an unpublished biography by one of the band members.

Watch this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here.