United States: Copyright

After securing funding, companies without in-house IP counsel face a critical 90-day window to protect their intellectual property assets. What systematic steps should growth-stage companies take to ensure they own what they sold to investors, protect their funded roadmap, and establish sustainable IP management practices before the next financing round?

A federal copyright case over a single Facebook photograph resulted in years of litigation despite a $200 damages award, demonstrating how routine image use in business marketing can create substantial legal and financial exposure. Understanding copyright compliance, licensing requirements, and proper image-sourcing procedures has become essential for businesses seeking to avoid costly infringement disputes.

As digital influencers increasingly incorporate copyrighted music, video clips, and images into their content, the legal boundaries of fair use have become critically important. This analysis examines the four-factor fair use test and reveals common misconceptions that put content creators at risk of copyright infringement. Understanding these legal principles is essential for influencers who monetize their content through ads, sponsorships, and affiliate links.

As artificial intelligence systems become embedded in museums and galleries, they're collecting biometric data, emotion readings, and physiological information from visitors.

Fashion companies navigating intellectual property law must balance creative expression with legal compliance when reviewing product designs. This comprehensive analysis explores the intersection of copyright, trademark, trade dress, design patents, and cultural heritage considerations that shape modern fashion design review processes.

There was a significant ruling in the Doe v. Github case involving training of AI code generator models on open source. The United States Court of Appeals for The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court ruling dismissing part of an action brought under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) by programmers against GitHub, Inc., and other defendants. The issues centered on whether defendants removed copyright management information (CMI) from content used to train the AI code generator models.

Fender's aggressive trademark enforcement campaign against guitar builders and retailers has ignited a fierce debate over intellectual property rights, fair use, and brand protection. Armed with a European court victory, the guitar giant is demanding cease-and-desist compliance worldwide, but faces significant legal hurdles in the U.S. where its iconic body shapes were deemed generic.

An artist sends drawings and 3D files to an overseas foundry. The foundry casts the commissioned sculptures, keeps the molds, photographs the unfinished work, and pulls a few extra casts. Images appear online before the artist’s exhibition opens. Soon, sellers are offering cheaper versions under the artist’s name.

On August 3, 2026, Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive to the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) mandating a “comprehensive verification and audit” of all data center projects currently advancing through the ERCOT interconnection process. T