COPYRIGHT

Draw the Line. Fairness Counts.

 

A range of issues come into play in the protection of copyrighted materials—music, art, photography, software, literary works, and other proprietary intellectual property—and in protecting the commercial profits that are realized from such works. Copyright issues include fair use of works, the licensing or transfer of copyrighted works, remuneration for use, and copyright infringement in the event of unauthorized use.

Moreover, while the rapid and ongoing development of digital media has opened new opportunities for many businesses, copyrighted material has become ever harder to protect from piracy, imitation, and dissemination. This makes copyright law one of the most complex and interesting areas in which today's attorney can practice.

Davis McGrath has a wealth of experience helping a range of clients with copyright issues, including media companies, publishers and authors, software developers and technology companies, writers, photographers and artists. We help clients to register and protect their copyrights; we also do research and due diligence for corporate clients on their creative campaigns, including securing the rights to images, music, and copyrighted written materials used in marketing communications materials. We help our clients to understand, manage, protect and monetize the value of their copyrighted materials.

Davis McGrath's copyright team has also conducted extensive research on the question of what constitutes work in the public domain, in the U.S. and around the world—including on the impact of certain treaties that touch on copyright protections. This includes reviewing the European Directive on harmonizing the term of copyright protection in the European Union.

Our attorneys also have experience in handling copyright litigation for clients—particularly in preemptive work to protect copyrights against infringements and in ensuring fair use of proprietary content in the rapidly globalizing competitive economy. We have investigated claims and litigated many such matters involving copyrighted works such as software, shareware, video games, commercial photography, illustrations, television characters, printed books, audio books, technical drawings, compilations and music.