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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Trademark and Copyright

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Wednesday, August 14, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will examine co-ownership of a copyright, discuss the impact of recent federal appellate court decisions, and offer best practices to protect ownership rights.

Faculty

Scott J. Sholder
Partner, Co-Chair Litigation Group
Cowan DeBaets Abrahams & Sheppard, LLP

Mr. Sholder focuses his practice on litigation, counseling, and dispute resolution in connection with entertainment, media, art, and IP matters. He represents and advises clients across various industries in copyright, trademark, trade secrets, right-of-publicity, unfair competition, domain name, and commercial and business disputes, as well as defamation defense. Mr. Sholder has appeared in federal and state courts around the country as well as administrative and arbitral tribunals and has handled cases from pre-suit negotiations through trial, post-trial procedures, and appeals. He is a frequent writer and speaker on issues related to copyright and trademark in the entertainment and digital media space, with a recent focus on generative AI.

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Adrian J. Perry
Partner
Covington & Burling

Mr. Perry's practice focuses on transactional and advisory matters involving emerging and innovative uses of technology, intellectual property, and data. He is a recognized practitioner in the entertainment, music, sports and technology industries. Mr. Perry is co-chair of the firm’s Entertainment and Media Industry group, co-chair of the firm's Music Industry practice, co-chair of the firm's Metaverse Initiative, and a driving force in the firm's Artificial Intelligence-related transactional and advisory work. He is ranked by Chambers and Partners in both the Technology and Media & Entertainment: Advisory categories. Mr. Perry has been recognized multiple times by Billboard as a Top Music Lawyer, by The Hollywood Reporter as a NY Power Lawyer, and by Variety in its Dealmakers Impact Report and Legal Impact Report, and been selected by Law360 as a Rising Star in Sports and Betting. He is also part of the firm's Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things initiatives, advising on deals involving AI-powered and internet-connected products. Mr. Perry counsels clients from a wide range of industries on technology transactions, including content platform and app development, NFT and metaverse projects, digital marketing and ad tech deals, data use and commercialization, digital and mobile content distribution, content acquisition, software and IT services agreements, and sponsorship agreements. He also has significant experience in the travel, education, and consumer goods industries.

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Description

Whether under new technologies that facilitate collaboration in creating works or more traditional collaborative efforts, such as screenplays which are often the work of many writers, it can be challenging to determine who holds what rights and to identify the proper copyright claimant.

The matter can become even more complicated when dealing with works made for hire since the test applied to determine when a work made by a non-employee is a work for hire is very different under the 1909 and 1976 Acts. And on top of all this, the current copyright registration and recordation scheme makes it difficult to track the chain of title for many works.

Often even the most important works are created without clear documentation. Because the law on copyright ownership is complex and often non-intuitive, many assumptions by persons outside the copyright bar are wrong.

Issues with copyright ownership can lead to even larger problems. Joint copyright owners are each authorized to license the work as they deem fit. Copyright ownership also impacts standing to sue and many other areas.

Listen as our authoritative panel of IP attorneys addresses how to avoid these issues. The panel will then explore recent case law addressing how ownership vests and what rights flow from that ownership. The panel will examine the creative ways to use copyright licensing and provide best practice tips for copyright due diligence.

Outline

  1. Establishing co-ownership
    • Sufficiency of authorship
    • Derivative works
    • Transfer of rights and work for hire
    • Foreign works
  2. Rights of co-owners
    • Rights to commercially exploit the copyright
    • Right/standing to sue for infringement
    • Divisibility questions: When is co-owner consent required?
    • Disputes between co-owners
    • Termination rights
  3. Due diligence to determine ownership/best practices

Benefits

The panel will review these and other relevant questions:

  • What happens when a subdivided interest in a copyright is itself co-owned?
  • What rights does each co-owner have in the copyright?
  • What steps should counsel and copyright owners take to protect the copyright interest?