While I’m sure there are some hippies those out there who would take the position that a sporting [...]]]> This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement shut down a number of websites that were offering live streams of professional sporting events (source).  The central claim was that the video delivered through those websites is protected by copyrights.

While I’m sure there are some hippies those out there who would take the position that a sporting event can’t be copyrighted (I’ve read some off-the-wall legal articles that take such a position), I am firmly in the camp that believes the recorded video is absolutely the kind of thing that Article I, Section 8, Clause 8, was drafted to cover.  My main problem here is that, rather than developing an effective way to reach every viewer who wants to enjoy their broadcasts, professional sports associations go crying to their congressman or the U.S. attorney about how their shitty business model is not making as much money as it used to.

Wake the fuck up, asssholes.  We live in a world where on-demand, high-definition video is a viable option.  I watch crap on my iPad while taking a crap — and I couldn’t be happier that this has become technologically possible.  I should be able to watch whatever I want, whenever I want, and wherever I want to watch it.  If I wanna watch “The Leap Home” at 3:45am on Tuesday, then there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to.  Charge me a fee for it; I’m okay with that — but quit complaining about piracy, when you are actively blocking viewers from consuming your product.

Limewire joins the list of infamous internet services deemed to be overwhelmingly used for copyright infringement (source).  Napster, Mp3.com, and Grokster rumored to be throwing a welcome bash for the new fish.

This article was originally posted on The Legal Satyricon

I [...]]]> If you’re running your own small business, and you don’t have a holding company for your intellectual property, you should make an appointment to have your head examined.  Creating a separate entity, solely for the purpose of owning your IP, is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way to insure the goodwill associated with your business.

I realize that the subject matter of this post is a bit drier than what you may have grown to expect from Tactical IP, but I’m hoping that at least a few of our readers are here for free tips on how to make their intellectual property work for them.  With that in mind, I’ll try to keep this light and painless.

Liability protection is the name of the game when it comes to creating business entities.  Think of it like an insurance policy.  If you do it right, assets can be protected from creditors, including judgment creditors who may have prevailed in a lawsuit.  As far as the law is concerned, a properly created and maintained business entity is a separate “person” from its owners and employees.  The benefit of that treatment is that, if the property created and maintained business entity incurs debts or gets sued, its assets are the only things that may be taken — not the assets of its owners.  Let’s look at an example to really hammer this point home.

In our example, you own and run your own courier service.  You have a couple of employees and a corresponding number of pickup/delivery vans.  You’ve been extremely successful, turning a good profit, and you’ve been able to afford all of the toys and accoutrement that success should provide.  In our first variation, let’s say that you are operating as a sole proprietor, using a DBA (“doing business as”) name — “Black Hat Couriers.”  You own everything in your own name, or using your DBA name — the vans, all of your office equipment, etc.  Now suppose one day, while making a delivery run, one of your employees is driving a little carelessly and, as a result, is involved in a collision where several people are injured.  You are insured, so you’re not too worried — that is until you get sued and the jury comes back with an award that goes well beyond your policy limits.  Guess what happens now.  All of those toys and accoutrement, your summer house with the pool, your boat, your Porsche — kiss ‘em goodbye.

Now let’s look at an alternative scenario.  You listened to your buddy, who happens to be an attorney, and you formed your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC).  This time, you’re calling the business “Black Hat Couriers, LLC.”  Now, you are a Managing Member of the LLC, and the business has its own assets that do not belong to you.  The vans are titled in the name of the business.  You used the LLC’s credit card to purchase that office equipment, and you pay the bill out of the LLC’s checking account.  You do everything possible to treat the LLC as if it was a separate entity from you.  The boat, the summer house, the Porsche — all of these things you purchased with your own money, which was paid out to you as income from the LLC.  Now, when the LLC’s insurance policy is insufficient to cover the jury award in that vehicular negligence suit, you get to keep your stuff.  The LLC is the only party responsible for paying the judgment.  Now that we understand a little bit about how a business entity provides a liability shield for assets, let’s take it a step further.

Say you’ve developed a really strong brand in running your courier service.  You have a website, which is reachable through a domain name that incorporates your business name.  You’ve registered for a state trademark, and you’ve started doing pickups and deliveries across the closest state line, so you have registered the federal trademark too.  You’ve learned your lesson about listening to your attorney friend, so you have even registered copyrights in the colorful fliers and advertisements that you have developed.  Life is good.  All of that branding, however, comprises intellectual property assets that may be in danger when that driver starts texting his girlfriend about after-work dinner plans doing 60mph on the highway.  How do we protect them?  Here’s a hint — check the title of this post.

If you create a new business entity — lets call it “Black Hat Intellectual Holdings, LLC” — and let the new entity own all of those intellectual property assets, when that plaintiff’s attorney starts selling off the assets of “Black Hat Couriers, LLC” to collect his contingency fee, you can rest assured that you won’t lose the benefit of your branding efforts.  Since “Black Hat Couriers, LLC” was only licensing the IP from “Black Hat Intellectual Holdings, LLC,” you can always create a new LLC and license the same IP to the new company, if “Black Hat Couriers, LLC” becomes bankrupt after paying the judgment.

Wanna franchise?  No problem.  “Black Hat Intellectual Holdings, LLC” can license the trademarks and copyrights to your brother-in-law who wants to open up shop two states away.

Decided to sell the business?  No problem.  You may even decide that you want to keep “Black Hat Intellectual Holdings, LLC” for ongoing licensing revenue paid by the guy who bought “Black Hat Couriers, LLC.”  Otherwise, if you decide to transfer the IP as well, there’s no break in the continuity of ownership for your domain registry.  Your trademarks all maintain a consistent priority, and the new owner enjoys all the benefits of your prior use.

Given the relatively low cost and effort in creating a business entity, it’s hard to understand why more small business owners don’t take advantage of the powerful asset protections that can be had therefrom.  I guess most people look at it as an expense they can skip, but it’s pretty clear that those are the corners you really can’t afford to cut — penny wise and pound foolish, as they say.

This article was originally published on The Tactical IP Blog

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Facebook is sending you this notice of a proposed class action settlement that may affect your legal rights as a Facebook member who may have used the Beacon program.  This summary notice is [...]]]> File under “can they do that?”  Facebook notified me of a class settlement agreement, by sending me an in-network message:

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Facebook is sending you this notice of a proposed class action settlement that may affect your legal rights as a Facebook member who may have used the Beacon program.  This summary notice is being sent to you by Court Order so that you may understand your rights and remedies before the Court considers final approval of the proposed settlement on February 26, 2010.

This is not an advertisement or attorney solicitation.

This is not a settlement in which class members file claims to receive compensation.  Under the proposed settlement, Facebook will terminate the Beacon program.  In addition, Facebook will provide $9.5 million to establish an independent non-profit foundation that will identify and fund projects and initiatives that promote the cause of online privacy, safety, and security.

For full details on the settlement and further instructions on what to do to opt out of, object to, or otherwise comment upon the proposed settlement, please go to http://www.BeaconClassSettlement.com.

An email is also being sent to the address associated with your Facebook account.

I never got the email.

Okay; so maybe I’m misquoting. But the fact remains that the Vatican issued a statement denouncing ICANN’s new top level domain name scheme, which allows the highest bidder to purchase whatever extension they want (source). Under the new naming system, anyone could purchase the right to [...]]]>

enjoying the holy sacrament of mobile internet

Okay; so maybe I’m misquoting. But the fact remains that the Vatican issued a statement denouncing ICANN’s new top level domain name scheme, which allows the highest bidder to purchase whatever extension they want (source). Under the new naming system, anyone could purchase the right to use “.catholic”, instead of “.com” or “.org”, as the ending for all of their website addresses. The Holy See is concerned that this will cause disputes amongst decentralized branches of various religions.

Update: If you want to start an anonymous blog, here are some [...]]]> Google was in court this week over allegedly defamatory comments made on an anonymous blog that the search giant hosts. Chris Thompson’s post describes the gory details, including references to two of our favorite cases: Hot Chicks With Douchebags and AutoAdmit.

Update: If you want to start an anonymous blog, here are some guidelines.

This story was originally published on The Legal Satyricon.