The Fifth Circuit ruled on August 27, 2026 that it will not follow the “server test,” the longstanding Ninth Circuit approach to determining copyright liability based on where content is stored, even as it left intact a lower court's dismissal of infringement claims against news aggregator NewsBreak.
Under the server test, established in Perfect 10 Inc. v. Amazon.com [ ... ]
For those who missed a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver invited Buc-ee’s to sue him.
During the show’s closing segment, Oliver unveiled “Buc-Off,” a parody of the Texas travel-center chain’s famous beaver mascot, encouraged viewers to buy related merchandise, and openly challenged Buc-ee’s to file a trademark infringement suit. The company rep [ ... ]
This is part of a continuing effort to alert copyright and trademark owners to sophisticated scams targeting their IP and effective legal strategies for responding. Stay tuned for an upcoming article about fraudulent website schemes aimed at events.
We periodically post warnings on this website about trademark scams and what to do if you are on the receiving end of a fra [ ... ]
Insights & News
Two of Janet Fries’ photographs have been in the national news recently. When Gloria Steinem died on September 3, 2026, numerous national media, including NBC News, the New York Times and PBS used the image Janet took in 1977 as their featured photo.
And just days earlier, an essay in the Washington Post on Tom Wolfe featured a photo of the author that Janet took in 1 [ ... ]
Trademark rights terminate if a mark is abandoned. Trademark owners are responsible for maintaining their marks, and their actions, whether voluntary or involuntary, play an important role in preserving those rights. A federal trademark application or registration may be abandoned if the owner voluntarily withdraws the application, or if the owner fails to satisfy required filing ob [ ... ]
Recently Arnie and I had the opportunity to see a performance of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Almeida Theatre in London. The acting was superb, and our (last minute) seats in the second row made for an enthralling, if not relaxing, evening as we were entirely consumed by the cruelty and desperation of the characters. The London production was set in current times but oth [ ... ]