Episodes

31
Aug. 26, 2021

Dealmaking Pitfalls in NCAA’s New NIL Policy

In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the NCAA’s recent policy change which allows college athletes to monetize their NIL, as well as potential downsides to the new policy. Watch the full episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here.
30
Aug. 20, 2021

NCAA Erects Challenge to ‘Vasectomy Mayhem’ Trademark

In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the NCAA’s decision to petition a trademark held by a urology office due to its alleged likeness to its own trademarks, ‘March Mayhem’ and ‘March Madness.’ Watch the video version of this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here.
29
Aug. 12, 2021

Tattoos, Videogames, and Lawsuits: Who Owns the Copyright on Athletic Ink?

In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss lawsuits over identifiable tattoos on professional athletes featured in video games, and who owns the copyright to body art. Watch the video version of this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here. Cases discussed: Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc. Alexander v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling Kindersley, Ltd. Darabont v. AMC Network Entm’t, LLC
28
Aug. 6, 2021

Dr. Seuss Sets Photon Torpedoes on Star Trek Mashup in 9th Circuit Appeal (Part Two, Trademark)

In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the Ninth Circuit ruling on the trademark aspects of Dr. Seuss “mashups.” Watch the video version of this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here. Listen to part one of this topic here. Watch the video version of part one here. Cases discussed: Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Penguin Books USA Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Comic Mix LLC Mattel Inc. v. MCA Records Inc. VIP Products LLC v. Jack Daniels P...
27
Aug. 5, 2021

Dr. Seuss Sets Photon Torpedoes on Star Trek Mashup in 9th Circuit Appeal (Part One, Copyright)

In this week’s episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the Ninth Circuit ruling on the copyright aspects of Dr. Seuss “Mashups.” Watch the video of this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel here. Listen to part two of this topic here. Watch part two of this topic here. Cases discussed: Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Penguin Books USA Dr. Seuss Enterprises v. Comic Mix LLC
26
July 30, 2021

Don’t Film So Close to Me: Can Copyrighted Music Keep Vids of Police Encounters Off The Internet?

In this week’s episode of the Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss recent news stories reporting that police officers played copyrighted music during filmed encounters, ostensibly to keep the videos from being uploaded to the Internet. Scott and Josh discuss how copyright law, the DMCA, and fair use apply to this tactic. Watch the video of this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here. Scott’s article on this topic on the IP Law Blog can be read here. Case...
25
July 29, 2021

Bonus Olympic Episode: IOC Gets Gold in Trademark Enforcement

In this bonus episode of the Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the stringent trademark enforcement protection for Olympic symbols, words, and phrases as well as recent lawsuits that have reinforced that protection. Watch the video version of this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here. Lawsuits discussed: San Francisco Arts & Athletics, Inc. v United States Olympic Committee USOPC v Puma
24
July 22, 2021

Space Erotica Flick Not Infringed by Black Mirror

This week on the Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the copyright lawsuit over a Black Mirror episode starring Miley Cyrus, the plot of which filmmaker Geoffrey Blair Hajim said was lifted from his film Strange Frame: Love and Sax. Watch the episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here.
23
July 13, 2021

Nike Threatens Fire & Brimstone Over Satanic Custom Shoe Makers

In this week’s episode of The Briefing by The IP Law Blog, attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the trademark litigation between Nike and a custom shoe maker, MSCHF (pronounced “Mischief”). In Nike Inc. v MSCHF Product Studio, Inc. Nike sued MSCHF over unauthorized versions of the Nike Air Max 97 featuring satanic imagery. The shoes were tied into marketing by Rapper Lil Nas X, and all 666 pairs created by MSCHF were sold. View the video recording of this episode on the Weintraub To...
22
July 9, 2021

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

In this week’s episode, attorneys Josh Escovedo and Scott Hervey discuss an update to the litigation over Andy Warhol’s series of portraits of the artist Prince (Andy Warhol Foundation v Goldsmith). They provide a recap of last week’s episode, which 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. That decision overturned a lowe...
21
June 29, 2021

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 Foundati...
20
June 24, 2021

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 wrot...
19
June 9, 2021

Defamation Lawsuit Against Netflix Dropped + New York Protects Dead Celebrities

Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss two topics in this episode of The Briefing. First, they talk about GEO Group's defamation lawsuit against Netflix over the show "Messiah," just dropped. Then, at 8:20, they move onto New York's new Right of Publicity law.
18
March 9, 2021

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.
17
March 5, 2021

“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.
16
March 5, 2021

“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.
15
March 4, 2021

Celebrities Sued for Posting Images of Themselves

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Scott and Josh discuss the possible legal issues celebrities face when they post images of themselves that they did not take. Watch this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here. Read Scott Hervey’s article about this topic on the IP Law Blog.
14
March 4, 2021

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.
13
March 4, 2021

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.
12
March 4, 2021

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.
11
March 4, 2021

Navigating the Hazy Intersection of Cannabis Law & Trademarks

On this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub Tobin IP attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss Josh’s article “Navigating the Hazy Intersection of Federal and State Law on Cannabis and Advising Clients on Protecting Their Trademarks.” Watch this episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here. Read the full article on The IP Law Blog, here.
10
March 4, 2021

The Essential Purpose of the Short Form Copyright Assignment

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss Scott’s article covering the merits of filing a Short Form Copyright Assignment. Watch the video of this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here. Read the full article on the IP Law Blog, here. ​
9
March 4, 2021

Copyright Infringement: BuzzFeed just got Buzz Worthy

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub Tobin IP attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss Scott’s article on a copyright dispute between a photographer and Buzzfeed. Watch the episode on Weintraub’s YouTube channel, here. Read the full article on the IP Law Blog, here: “Second Circuit Frames Novel Issue of Photographer’s Claim of Copyright Infringement and DMCA Violation”
7
March 1, 2021

Empire Copyright Litigation

In this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog, Weintraub attorneys Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss the copyright dispute over the TV show “Empire” Watch this episode on the Weintraub YouTube channel, here. Case discussed: Jon Astor-White v. Daniel Strong.