Week 9 EOC "Letters of Permission"

For this assignment I looked online for a few templates and found that the instructions seems a little confusing so I combined that with an image of a mock template of a letter of someone asking permission to use a image or a text in their article.  These two combined together made it easier to write my own changing their text and placing in my own while keeping to the worded template of the other sites.  For my personal letters of permissions that I used were first and foremost the Permission to use Artwork. For me this situation is very presently occurring due to the fact that for one of my advanced drawing classes I redid images from original works. I used a different medium and changed some of the works slightly but as a whole they are still that artist original work.  My other instructors tell me that as long as I credit the original artist then I am fine or calling it by a different considering that it was a class project and that I will be making not profit from its use on my site.  But none the less I figured that it was important to think about having just in case of some issues down the road. The next letter I chose to make was for the Permission to use music.  With having my demo reel using a song the entire way thorough as well as the animations inside of them having other sound clips I felt that is was important to think about having on had, once again just in case something came up further down the road.  One next two that did and didn't necessarily apply to me directly.  These involved putting images and text from someone else in your posting to a blog. Knowing that blogs are public space and that anyone can view them with ease.  I wanted to be sure that if I or someone else was to use a quote or an image taken from another site that they did so lawfully. In which case the original artist would be site and referenced to in my site so that there was no confussion to who had done what. That I was the writer and distributor of the article but some of it's context and images were from another source entirely.

Your Own Argument and Opinion

Having talked with a lawyer I feel that they knew what they were talking about. Having done my studies from the class I was prepared and had in minor stand figured out what actions to take, but after speaking to them and having them provide additional information to my questions it was no doubt they understood the law for copyright and intellectual property “Intellectual property refers to products of human intellect that have commercial value and that receive legal protection.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 4.  I can honestly say that I aside from one facet of the conversations, I agreed with everything they said. My one and only confusion on the copyright law is that I understand the work-for-hire (“Under the Copyright Act, an “original work of authorship” encompasses, with a few exceptions, any type expression independently conceived of by its creator” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 302. “Copyright Act of 1976: This comprehensive federal statute governs copyright protection for original works of authorship created after January 1, 1978.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 235.) but does that mean that if you created something on your own time using your own tools and resources that whatever work you created regardless of its content would belong to your employer. It’s a head scratcher to me for sure. Perhaps one day when I sign my own contract with a company I will get to ask that exact question. Phillip was very informative about the telling me about working under an alias also know as a pseudonym “A “pseudonym work” is one on which the author is identified under a fictitious name. . . The copyright will last 95 years.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 318.  The difference between and idea and an expression of that idea and what copyright actually protected. “It is important to understand, however, that copyright law protects only the expression itself- not the underlying facts, ideas, or concepts.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 234. As well as what steps to take to protect my works by sending them to a third party and having them saved and timestamped for me as well as to register for the copyright “Under the Copyright Act of 1976, aboriginal work of authorship gains copyright protection Th. Instant it becomes fixed in a tangible form this means that such protection is available for both published and unpublished works.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 234.  And when it comes to postings on blog with a mixture of my own original images and text as well as being combined with others that my arrangement and placement as well as the original content was covered “Any work of authorship that is not protected under copyright law is said to fall within the public domain.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 319. And even if you are working with friends it’s just good business sense to have everyone sign certain agreements like the nondisclosure agreement (“The term “nondisclosure agreement” is often used interchangeably with “confidentiality agreement” or “NDA”.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 550. “This is a legalese for written promise by an employee not to compete with his or her employer, or take employment with a competing business, for a specified length of time after the employer-employee relationship ends.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 528.) so that everyone is protected regardless our relationship to one another. As well as if you are putting your work out there it’s just lazy not to take the simple and easy steps (“Any unauthorized use of a copyrighted work that violates the copyright owner’s exclusive rights in the work constitutes as infringement.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 237.) to protect you and your work.

Rule of Law

Phillip A. Kantor and Steven Caloiaro in the Rule of Law were to my opinion correct. They were able to answer my questions easily and  with authority. For my first question about an animated “short” and how it would be protected, they advised me the idea itself was not protected saying that “Ideas are as free as the air we breathe”. Rather what is protected is the expression of that idea that is protected by copyright law. Phillip used the example of the Story of Romeo and Juliet, saying that the idea is world know and that the individual expression is the part that is protected.  Steven’s point was that Copyright protection subsists in original, works of authorship, fixed in any tangible medium. And that the protection and the copyright would be created when the work was finished. “In short, practically any type of expression that can be fixed in a tangible medium of expression is eligible for copyright protection, assuming it is original and has a least some creativity. It is important to understand, however, that copyright law protects only the expression itself---not the underlying facts, ideas, or concepts.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 234 . I followed by asking about work-for-hire.  Phillip described that for me the terms would be laid out in the contract and that each one would be different from studio to studio.  As well that a typical work-for-hire contract is one that you work inside the studio and they supply you with all the things you need to complete the project. Then any product produced belongs to the company, but if you are contracted meaning that you work from your own studio and use your own supplies then anything else created will belong to the author/artist.  Steven wrote that the circumstances in which a work is considered a “work made for hire” is determined by the ‘United States Act of 1976’.  “Copyright of a work made for hire belongs either to the party who commissioned it or the party who employed the creator, not the party who created it.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 340. Then I asked, what should my first move be to protect my works.  They seemed to have a conscious on this that as soon as the work is in a tangible medium (written in hand or on a computer). Then you apply for the copyright by downloading the forms, just Thirty_five dollars online to process the forms. After the work is completed you will receive the copyright. “To register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office, the author must deposit the best edition of the work with the application.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 217.  I followed by asking about working under an alias or pseudonym (fictitious name).  Phillip had advised that when you file for the copyright you fill out the form with your original name so that the copyright is in your name and then you tell them that you will be printing in under an alias name and let them know what that name is as well.  “Copyright law protects an author ow publishes a work under a pseudonym almost as well as they do an author who uses his or her real name. . . 95 years for a pseudonymous work, instead of the author’s life plus 70 years for an author-identified work.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 318. For my question about how blog contents could be protected, Phillip first advised me that it would have to original.  And that even if some of the text and images were not of your own creation that the arrangement of them on the blog would be protected as well as any of your own original text. “Any public work of authorship that is not protected under copyright law is said to fall with in the public domain, This means that anyone can use the work without obtaining permission from the author or the author’s heirs.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 319. I had then asked what step should I take if I believed my intellectual property was being infringed. Phillip told me that I should consult with counsel to see what I actually owned and was public domain or even what belonged to someone else property altogether. Then he would counsel from there. He had also informed me that there was the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for works that were strictly on the web.  “This federal statute address a number of copyright issues created by the use of the Internet.  Among other things, it outlaws attempts to get around processes, methods, or devices that limit copying of copyrighted works. ” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 251.  I had then asked about working with other people and if the group broke up into two how would our intellectual property be protected.  Phillip reminded me once again that it was the expression that was protected not the idea and following with that some judges believe the ‘the idea and the expression are so intertwined that they can not be separated’ depending on the work at hand. And that if it was bought to court that they would look at the ‘access’ meaning that they would look at the relationship between the two parties. Steven said that this is when a Non-Disclosure Agreement or a Non-Compete Clause would come into play, providing that you signed one.  “A nondisclosure agreement is a legally binding contract in which a person or business promises t treat specific information as a trade secret and not to disclose the information  to others without roper authorization. . . Is often interchangeably with “confidentiality agreement”.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 550.  I followed by asking about producing a ‘Short’ and how to protect my intellectual property or for better understanding my expression. Phillip told me to see counsel and find out what was the story about and finding that if it was an original work, this way I knew what would be protected and what was mine. He then had said to go to www.trustafi.com which is a third party entity that houses a digital copy of my work for a minor fee of course and they will also provide and time stamp show the date of which I saved my work. He then said finally I should register for the copyright by filling out the forms and paying the thirty-five dollar fee. So I followed up with a similar question about having produced a short animated film and was going to send it to a film festival what should I do to protect it, but after hearing the answer to my previous questions I had already known the answer. He laughed and said yes to follow the same steps as previously stated and that not doing that was just being plain lazy. Steven’s answer added to that saying that the copyright will not prevent the theft, but allow you a legal remedy.  “Authorship embodies a certain minimum level of creativity and originality. But as long as a particular expression has been independently arrived at, it need not be original is the sense of “new”.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 302.

Reasoning of Law

Phillip A. Kantor was very professional over the phone and listened to my questions carefully before answering. As stated in a previous post he is an intellectual property lawyer. I had also chose questions that I had an idea of the answer too and some that I did not, just so that I could personally see where thinking was coming form. He answered all my questions easily and very precise using terms I had learned from the book and some I hand’t like ‘Evidentiary Issue’, court cases, copyright laws like the Digital Millennium Act (“The DMCA is often used by angry copyright claimants seeking to have an ISP remove infringing works under its “notice and takedown” procedures.” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 252.) and even some quotes from judges. The one I enjoyed the most was a court judge that said “Ideas are as free as the air we breathe.” “The more factual in nature the original work, the more similar the second work can be without infringement occurring” Patent, Copyright & Trademark, Attorney Richard Stim, page 280. As well as explaining the difference in words that are used when working with intellectual property in ‘stories’ almost referring to animated illustrated or written. Some of my questions as we went through almost repeated themselves after having had him answer the previous ones, but he was patient all them same, while referring to his previous statements or giving another example that would help me understand the idea a little better. Phillip A. Kantor understood the legality of my questions and concerns and answered them with authority.

Week 8 EOC "Bratz Brawl"

With this Mattel Inc vs MGA Entertainment Inc. over the Bratz looking like Barbie or in its essence Bratz dolls being the edgy Barbie. 'U.S. District Judge David Carter in Santa Ana, California, yesterday awarded MGA $85 million in punitive damages and $2.5 million in fees and costs for its trade-secret theft claims against Mattel.' posted at bloomberg.com news. These company already have so much money why even bother with that stand on the infringement? Why not just get the court to stop letting them sell the Bratz dolls in the first place? My personal opinion on the matter is that i understand that allegedly at least four former Mattel employees,  disguised themselves to gain access to competitors' show rooms at toy fairs. I also understand that what they stole was valuable marketing strategies and pricing, and I am sure that this is all protected by the MGA Entertainments copyright, and I can see why they aren't going after those individual people when they could sue a larger company. But to me having grown up on barbie to me the Bratz dolls were something completely different. Again I don't believe those dolls were out when I was still playing, but now working at a place that sells toys the "Barbie" isle is an entire row at the store verses the "Bratz" section is only a four foot section and just to clarify there are (depending on the isle) six, four foot sections to an isle. Let alone the Barbie isle has big pick sign and displays and the Bratz isle has one little sign. But I guess if they have created a demand for it then I can see that even if there is a smaller section then the consumers will buy and find no matter what.  "SANTA ANA, California (Nichola Groom) - Mattel Inc, after waging a seven-year legal war against a tiny California company, swallowed a surprise defeat on Thursday after a U.S. jury decided that MGA Entertainment Inc is the rightful owner of the once-billion dollar line of pouty-lipped Bratz dolls." says the Huff Post Business.  I think this was an obvious win.  To me a consumer and a sales rep they are nothing alike. And although the idea maybe the same the expression of the dolls themselves are very different. But this is were the niceties ends. "The jury found Mattel misappropriated trade secrets from MGA and awarded MGA $88.5 million in damages. The jury also decided MGA had interfered with Mattel's contract with designer Carter Bryant, but awarded only $10,000 in damages to Mattel." also says the Huff Post Business.  This part for a company to act like this is disrespectful let alone illegal.  In the end I'm glad it's finally over for good. No more dispute, allegations and infringements (I hope).

Week 8 BOC: Progress in Getting a Lawyer

At first I had so issues getting in touch with anyone last week. I had fellow co-workers of my family that were married to or related to someone that was a lawyer, but they seemed to have fall through very easily. I don't know if it was because of my relationship and how I found out about them. Needless to say they we less inclined to help than those who where a cold call situation. This morning I made two contacts. Both contacted through emails and the one Steven Caloiaro is an attorney who practices mainly in intellectual property litigation including copyright. Steven is talking to me through email because of a hectic schedule so I emailed him my questions this afternoon. The other Philip A. Kantor  of his own law firm in North Las Vegas is  practicing in copyright and advertising law as well as intellectual property.  I have a phone conference with Mr. Kantor at 3pm today.  I already have my questions ready for the phone conversation between Mr. Kantor and myself so that I can stay to the point and not take up to much of his time.   I decided to go with both of them for now concerned that if I chose one over the other one may back out and I don't want to find myself in a situation that I go from having made contact with a lawyer to not having one at all.  Also the up side is that I have made two connections to intellectual property and copyright lawyers, in hopes that one may have more incite into some part of intellectual property and copyright law that the other did not know about.
 

The Questions

The questions for me seemed to be the easiest part.  I asked questions that would effect me either presently or in the future.  My questions were directed at my intellectual property and those that I would either work for or if cutting out on my own, how would I protect them from someone else coming in and stealing my ideas, designs and animations.  So I asked simple questions that I believed headed straight to the point. 1. If some fellow animators and I were to create a “Short” animated film and we put it on the internet to get some hype. How would that be protected form someone else/company from stealing our creative idea and expression?  This question was directed at the fact that some friends and I had talked that while waiting for work we would create our own shorts and animations so that we could keep practicing and adding to our reels. 2. If I was working for an animation studio/company and I created a character and a story for a book, graphic novel or short animation; would these creations be my own property or would they belong to the company that I worked for?  This was generalized to working for someone, because I have heard that depending on your contract to your employer that your ideas may not belong to you while employed with them. A very scarey notion to a creative person. 3. If was to write a book/novel what would you suggest the first move I make to protect my IP form being stolen?  This was to my other passions of life and some ideas I have for my future endeavors. 4. If I was at first to write or animate under an alas name how would I go about doing this and how would my IP be protected?  I had once heard in my ealy years that when particularly a painter comes out that they some times us another name to have their art under this way if their works aren't received well they don't tarnish their own name. 5. If I was writing a blog and my name was attached to it how would my IP be protected by copyright?  This one is for this class in general I figured it would be a good basic question to ask, having already known the answer to it. I can perceive the knowledge of the lawyer. 6. What steps should a person take when they believe that their IP is being infringed upon?  This being generalized to one of the earlier questions, that is to say if I did the proper steps and someone still attempted to steal my work what steps should I take to stop this. 7. If a group of animators were working on an animation/concept and two chose to break off and started working on the same idea on their own. How would the original groups IP be protected?  This question was related to the fact of what happened between Disney and Pixar when they first split and the lead animator took the animators with him and opened up his own company, but obviously in a smaller scale situation. 8. If my name, first and last. Was the same as someone else, when I began to publish works how could I protect my name and my IP from being defamed? This was a question designed so that if someone else had my name that I would be protected from them and their trials of life. 9. When you are self producing a book or animation short, what legal advice would you give to that person to ensure that their IP is being protected, as they are not represented by an agent or publication company?  This is in the case of self producing works, that is not having a sponsor or agent to help you through the legal hoops of the industry. 10. If I was to create a short animated film that would pay at different film festivals, how would I protect my IP from being taken by one of the viewers?  This is because I have every intention to producing short works that I would send to film shows and the like and curious on how the animation is protected.  I believe that my questions are perfect for my future as an animator.