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Compulsory Licensing vs. Exclusive Licensing
Dear Rich: I was wondering how compulsory licensing fits with exclusive licensing. In other words, if a song is exclusively licensed for a movie, for example, can someone still license it to record...
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No Registration at Time of 'Infringement'
Types of Creative Commons licensesDear Rich: I reproduced a Creative Commons photograph on my blog. The photographer posted the picture to use for free. A few weeks later, I got an email from a company...
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Police Photo: Public Domain or Fair Use?
Dear Rich: I want to use a police plane crash accident photo in my book. It was released to the press and has been published in many news outlets attributed to the department. There are no privacy...
View ArticleNatural v. Synthetic Tests: Copyright-Protected?
Dear Rich: I have a website that helps people determine whether jewelry and gemstones are natural or synthetic. I am redoing the site and want to eliminate some of the sources listed for the various...
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Does Renewal Apply to Both Published and Unpublished Works?
Dear Rich: A song was first copyrighted in an “unpublished” form in 1950, and subsequently, in the same year, the same song was copyrighted in “published” form. The published registration was renewed...
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Contract Template for Graphic Book Cover Artist
Two iconic book covers that later became the posters for the film adaptationsDear Rich: My company is wanting to hire an illustrator to do the cover of our travel book. We want to pay this person a...
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Civil War Letters Still Copyrighted?
Ulysses S. Grant - Virginia, June 1864Dear Rich: I am writing a book about the Civil War. I would like to include certain quotes from letters of Civil War soldiers. The question is, when were they...
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Bobbleheads and Baseball Cards: Does Pairing Make it Less Risky?
Bo Jackson photo by Chris Putnam (altered)Dear Rich: I’m trying to figure out if I can pair a sports card displayed with a piece of matching bobblehead art featuring celebrity/athlete likenesses for...
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Are Ads in Old Magazines Protected by Copyright?
Dear Rich: I am working on a book project which would use advertisements from a major U.S. corporation that were published in a popular U.S. magazine between 1918 and 1962. The magazine itself was...
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Can They Back Out of the Deal?
Our favorite negotiation textDear Rich: I've been negotiating a license agreement with a company specializing in branding cleaning products for supermarket and box store chains. The negotiations have...
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Take What You Want From Sherwood Forest
Dear Rich: I am writing a historical fantasy novel, and I want to incorporate elements from Henry Gilbert's Robin Hood (1911). Despite the publication date, I can't tell if this book is in the US...
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Use Frida's Paintings? (Yes!) Use Frida's Name? (Maybe)
Frida Kahlo age 12 (1919)Dear Rich: I'm filming a romantic comedy in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and refer to the artist Frida Kahlo in two scenes and show a photo of one of her paintings...
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Converting Chinaware Designs to Needlepoint Patterns: Problems Getting...
Dear Rich: I am adapting needlework-like designs used in pottery/chinaware by creating patterns for needleworkers. Much of the chinaware was produced in the 1800's but some as late as the 1960s. I have...
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Does Copyright Notice Protect a Website?
Dear Rich: Does putting "Copyright 2023" at the bottom of website pages protect the site from visitors who download an image or narrative content?Placing a copyright notice on your website is like...
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Kick It! Marital Arts, Choreography, and Copyright
Dear Rich: I am writing a martial arts mobile phone app. The app includes text describing the martial arts movements and choreography illustrating the moves. The martial arts forms have been relatively...
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Matricide, Movies and Salinger
Dear Rich: I have written a play and movie script around a public matricide. I gained access to years of diaries, photos, and scrapbooks through a university's special collections library. The entire...
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Do I Owe Former Collaborator for a Song He Didn't Co-Write?
Dear Rich: I used to write songs with a musician friend until we had a falling out. Fast forward four years, and I'm now releasing an album of original songs with a California-based indie label. My...
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The Enchanted Copyright History of Nature Boy
Frank Sinatra with eden ahbez (ahbez did not capitalize his name believing that "only God and infinity deserved capitalization.") Dear Rich: I wrote a poem using the entire song "Nature Boy" with the...
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Fair Use: Yes or No?
Trick photograph of man with two heads (1901) Dear Rich: I have a new, unique book soon to be published about judging the quality of art. Every image in the book, from ancient to contemporary art, is...
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We're Off to Sue the Wizard
Dear Rich: I want to use a small portion of lyrics from a copyrighted song (We're Off To See The Wizard," by E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen) in a first novel currently being written. Songview, the...
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Upcycling: From Feedbag to Tote Bag
This dress was made by Mrs. G. R. (Dorothy) Overall of Caldwell, Kansas, in 1959 for the Cotton Bag Sewing Contest Dear Rich: Would it be a violation of trademark or copyright law to take an empty...
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Baby (Has Finally) Come Home!
Listen to Bessie SmithDear Rich: I'm trying to determine if a recording of a song from 1923 is in the public domain for use as background music in a film scene. The song is 'Baby Won't You Please Come...
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Publicly Posted PowerPoint ≠ Public Domain
Dear Rich: I run a volunteer-run/non-profit educational program for students who have failed the Naplex several times. I saw PowerPoints posted publicly on a school's website, which I thought would be...
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Release Me: Interview Consents and Multiple Uses
Dear Rich: If a reporter has consent to interview someone, can that reporter also play that recording during an interview on air? The reporter can probably play the interview on air, but the answer...
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007: License to Infringe
Dear Rich: Ian Fleming's Casino Royale entered the public domain in Japan in 2015, 50 years after his death. The same 50-year rule applies in Canada, where Fleming's character of James Bond is also in...
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