Thursday, December 16, 2010

Final Evaluation: Forced Choice

The people that i thought were most successful in their attempts to do the final projects are in this blog 1 being the most successful to 24 being the worst.

1. Lee, Sean Anthony http://primarydesign702.blogspot.com/
2. Howard, Brett Carroll http://accudraft45.blogspot.com/
3. Chambers, Everett Warren http://vegasinteriors.blogspot.com/
4. Bowman, Robert B http://bowmanlifestudios.blogspot.com/
5. Angel, Renferd K http://angelaudioproduction.blogspot.com/
6. Casey, Daniella ME http://daniella-casey.blogspot.com/
7. Schmidt, Chase M. http://colorblindproduction.blogspot.com/
8. Lucero, Chelsea Elizabeth http://chelzzlucero.blogspot.com/
9. Orton, David Wayne http://vemg.blogspot.com/
10. Hearty, Raymond http://raygamepro.blogspot.com/
11. Terheide, Melinda M http://terheidedesigns.blogspot.com/
12. Uy, Maria Feinila D http://madeirich.blogspot.com/
13. Valencia, Eduardo http://eduardov425.blogspot.com/
14. Spencer, Randi J http://boysgrowup.blogspot.com/-not fully completed
15. Cordova, Jake Charles http://jakenstein151.blogspot.com/-not fully completed
16. Hayford, Kristin http://rockabillybabydesigns.blogspot.com/-not fully completed
17. Smith, Cary Keola http://kotcc.blogspot.com/- IDK?
18. Hardy, Tyrone http://cajogi.blogspot.com/-not fully completed
19. Silvera, Richard Michael,Jr http://rmsfilms-richard.blogspot.com/-not completed
20. Lopez, Osvaldo http://ozzy702.blogspot.com/-not completed
21. Hernandez, Edwin Jess http://mogulvision.blogspot.com/-not completed
22. Hasson, Keith http://keithhassonailvmma.blogspot.com/-not completed
23. Ferreira, Charles Edward http://champf.blogspot.com/-not completed
24. Beymer, Eric D. http://ericbeymerphoto.blogspot.com/-not completed

my opinion

Considering in this day and age with our mass media and there is so much going on with the Internet that it is impossible for there not to be infringement of any type. you can download music, movies, and software from many different sources without much consequence. I think that there should be new ways of compensating artists for their work because anyone can post something online whether it belongs to them or not and whoever created that work gets nothing. the old ways of doing business in the entertainment industry are over so new ways need to be presented so that we don't continue to cheat people out of their intellectual property. copyright laws are nearly impossible to enforce anymore, it seems like things are public domain immediately after they are posted online. Another thing that i didn't know anytime i create something its copyrighted immediately. "As a result of the copyrighted term extension act of 1998, most copyrights for works published after January 1, 1978, last for the life of the author plus 70 years." (pg198) Another thing i started doing after starting this class is keeping a notebook of my artworks and the date they were created, this is mainly for inventors but i am going to do it as well. "Many inventors maintain a journal in which they record when and how they conceived of an invention and specify all procedures, dates, actions, failures, successes, contacts, and other events that occur in the course of building and testing the invention." (pg 96) Its good to know being a photographer that "the photographer is considered the author and original owner of copyright." (pg296) "Photographic images are predictable under copyright law whether in print or digital format." (pg 296)

All Quotes are taken from Patent, Copyright & Trademark nolo 11 Edition

rule of law

Everything i have learned in this class is valuable information that can be used to keep me safe from infringers. Alot of people choose to steal from authors/artists because they can, its easy. Many people will go on to limewire and download hundreds of songs without thinking about it, "the distribution of MP3 files is an infringement unless authorized by the respective copyright owners." (pg281) Many people pirate movies as well and i don't think that they really understand what they are actually doing. knowing that at anytime one of my photos could be taken right offline i realize that i have to protect myself from those who choose to break the law. The best way you can protect yourself is through patents, copyrights and trademarks. Those are my artworks, "A creative work is protected by copyright the moment the work assumes a tangible form" (pg196) and i don't want someone stealing what i worked hard to create. After talking to my lawyer i did feel conferable about being protected against infringement of my works. The lawyer i spoke to is Daniel E. Klaus and he is a partner at Rembolt Ludtke in Lincoln Nebraska. http://www.remboltludtke.com I don't think that all lawyers are just in it for the money but i think that there are more like that than not.


All Quotes are taken from Patent, Copyright & Trademark nolo 11 Edition

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Reasoning of the Law

The lawyer i spoke with didn't have all the time in the world to talk to me so the answers to my questions weren't completely in depth, they are just scratching the surface. I think that he did make some valid points and i was very interested in his answers.
1. What is the first step someone sould take if they find someone using their intellectual property without permission?
1A. The first legal step that you should take when finding out that someone has taken your property without permission is to contact a lawyer with expertise in intellectual property to send a cease and desist order. "This letter informs the alleged infringer of the validity and ownership of the copyrighted work, the nature of the infringement, and the remedies that are available to the copyright holder unless the ifringement is halted." (pg219)
2.What is the best way to protect your intellectual property from copyright infringers?
"In the event someone infringes the exclusive rights of a copyright owner, the owner is entitled to sue in federal court and ask the court to: issue orders to prevent further violations, award money damages if appropriate, and is some circumstances award attorney fees." (pg199)
2A.Make sure your copyright is still active, and if you grant permission for others to use it limit it as much as possible. Also put notations on it as a protected status.
3. Does intellectual property protection stay the same in digital form VS print form?
3A. Both are protected, but it is harder to protect digital media more because it can by manipulated to impact the status. For example, "The DMCA prohibits circumvention of digital anti piracy devices and the removal of secret codes known as digital watermarks from the digital files." (pg274) Just because its prohibited doesn't mean it cant be done.
4. Do you recommend i personally contact a company or a individual that has stolen my artwork or contact a lawyer first.
4A. I recommend you contact a lawyer to handle any legal issues you may have with any company or individual because anything that happens between you and a company/individual can be held against you in a court of law.
5. Is it better to use a template or have a lawyer draft a contract for my design?
5A. You should have a lawyer make an initial draft that you can use for many different agreements with different clients that covers everything you want to put into the contract. There are also single use agreements and particular types.
6. What are the common legal issues when doing freelance work?
6A. It depends on who owns the work that is produced and what are the rights to reproduce the work.
7. Do all states deal with intellectual property the same?
7A.For the most part they do because it is federally protected. " In the United States, copyright protection derives from the U.S. Constitution, which requires that original works of authorship be protected by copyright." (pg200) "The current source of this protection is the federal copyright act of 1976, as amended."(pg200) "There are no state copyright laws." (pg200)
8. What is the best way to protect my interests while doing freelance work?
8A. You need a contract the outlines the duties and responsibilities of both parties. Also it needs to be clear who uses the work at the end of the job.
9. Is there a common time frame for a intellectual property case to be settled upon?
9A. There is no common time frame it can take from a month to many years to be settled upon.
10. When is it necessary to trademark my intellectual property?
10A. Generally a trademark identifies anything unique to your business. Anytime you have something that distinguishes you from another company.
11. To what degree does my design or idea have to differ from another author?
11A. There is no degree or extent that it has to differ it just cannot cause confusion in the company or with the art.

All Quotes are taken from Patent, Copyright & Trademark nolo 11 Edition

The Questions

Its difficult to narrow down just 10 questions to ask a lawyer about intellectual property because there are so many things that could be covered and so many questions that could be asked. "The commercial value of intellectual property comes from the ability of its owner to control and exploit its use."(pg4) When trying to find my ten questions i decided to look at my classmates blogs to find the best 10 questions that relate to my degree which is photography."All art works(photos, paintings, and so on) are protected under copyright."(pg321) I am going to add an extra question because i thought that it was important as well and i was interested in the answer because it relates to all artists in all areas of intellectual property.
My eleven questions are all important to anyone who creates art. "Typically, intellectual property encompasses creative works, products, processes, imagery, inventions, and services and is protected by patent, copyright, trademark, or trade secret law." (pg4)
1. What is the first step someone should take if they find someone using their intellectual property without permission?

2. What is the best way to protect your intellectual property?

3. Does intellectual property protection stay the same is digital form VS printed form?

4. Do you recommend i personally contact a company or individual that has stolen my artwork or contact a lawyer?

5. Is it better to use a template or have a lawyer draft a contract for my design?

6. What are the common legal issues when doing freelance work?

7. Do all stated deal with intellectual property the same? How do they differ?

8. What is the best way to protect my interests when doing freelance work?
"For purposes of the Copyright act, a work made for hire is: a work created by an employee within the scope of employment, or certain works specified in the copyright act created by an independent author under a written contract specifying that the project is a work made for hire."(pg319)

9. Is there a common time frame for a intellectual property case to be settles upon?

10. When is it necessary to trademark or copyright my intellectual property?
"Trademark law consists of the legal rules by which businesses protect the names, logos, and other commercial signifier used to identify their products and services."(pg378)
"Copyrights are granted for original creative expressions produced by authors, composers, artists, designers, programmers, and similar creative individuals."(pg5)

11. To what degree does my design or idea have to differ from another author?
"The author of a work of expression subject to copyright protection is one of the following: the person who creates work, the person or business that pays another to create the work in the employment context, or the person or business that commissions the work under a valid work-made-for-hire contract." (pg215)

All Quotes are taken from Patent, Copyright & Trademark nolo 11 Edition

Legal Authority-How i made contact

Choosing a lawyer is quite difficult. Lawyers specialize in many areas and its not smart to have a divorce lawyer help you with an intellectual property case. When looking for a lawyer i took this into consideration. "Intellectual property consists of several separate and overlapping legal disciplines." (pg5) It can get confusing dealing with intellectual property. The four types of intellectual property are patent law, copyright law,trademark law, and trade secret law. So it is important to find the correct lawyer who knows about these areas of the law so that you and your property are best protected against others. "Intellectual property laws, along with court decisions and regulations, establish rules for the following activities: the selling or licensing of intellectual property, resolving disputed between companies making or selling similar intellectual property products and services, and the registration and administration of intellectual property."(pg5) There are grey areas for laws of any kind, and because of this i tried to find the best lawyer i could for my questions. When calling around i realized that many lawyers were busy and wouldn't give a student the time of day because of the fact that they wouldn't receive a check for the consultation. After calling and receiving no word for the multiple lawyers, i tried some personal family lawyers. The first family lawyer that i contacted said that he didn't specialize in intellectual property law and probably wouldn't be able to answer my questions very well. "Intellectual property refers to products of the human intellect that have commercial value and receive legal protection."(pg4)After that i called my mothers lawyer who was more that happy and experienced to help answer my difficult questions. Even after answering my 10 questions for this class assignment i asked him some additional questions that helped me shape my ideas and knowledge of intellectual property even more.

All quotes are taken for the textbook Patent, Copyright & Trademark Nolo 11th Edition

Thursday, December 9, 2010

robert kearns vs erin brockovich

The thing that brought these 2 movies together is that they both got that justice that they were after. I really enjoyed also how these two movies focus on how the underdog gets screwed over and then they work their hardest to get what they deserve but at the same time they are working against huge companies that could easily ruin their lives and make them miserable. Both of these people worked their tails off and it paid off they are showing that big companies can’t take advantage of regular everyday people without consequence. I think that they showed immense bravery. At the same time I think that at the beginning Kerns went about it the wrong way and for that he was wasting his time. It took him forever to sue them and over time he lost a lot of his life, and ruined his marriage. I feel bad for him but at the end of the whole thing he got what he wanted. Erin helped a lot of families with her lawsuit which was very heartwarming. I think that working hard and not letting people take advantage of you can pay off in the end, but I guess not every time. It’s sad that companies think that just because someone is not as educated as them or they don’t have a lot of money that they can walk all over them and take whatever they want. Erin was an incredible person who cared about many people and that’s why she put herself out there to help. Kerns wanted to show that this has happened to a lot of other people and it’s not right. I agree with them taking a stand and doing what is right even though a lot of other people thought they should drop it or settle they knew that it wasn’t an option.

lawyer jokes

There was a loser who couldn't get a date. He went to a bar and asked this one guy how to get a date. The guy said, "It's simple. I just say, I'm a lawyer."

So the guy went up to a pretty woman and asked her out. After she said no, he told her that it was probably a good thing because he had a case early in the morning.

She said, "Oh!!!! Your a lawyer?"

He said, "Why yes I am!", so they went to his place and when they were in bed, screwing, he started to laugh to himself.

When she asked what was so funny, he answered,"Well, I've only been a lawyer for 15 minutes, and I'm already screwing someone!"
http://www.comedy-zone.net/jokes/laugh/lawyers/law3.htm

If two lawyers were drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you read the paper or go to lunch?
http://www.free-funny-jokes.com/funny-lawyer-jokes.html

A lawyer named Strange died, and his friend asked the tombstone maker to inscribe on his tombstone, “Here lies Strange, an honest man, and a lawyer.” The inscriber insisted that such an inscription would be confusing, for passersby would tend to think that three men were buried under the stone. However he suggested an alternative: He would inscribe, “Here lies a man who was both honest and a lawyer. That way, whenever anyone walked by the tombstone and read it, they would be certain to remark: “That’s Strange!”

http://www.free-funny-jokes.com/funny-lawyer-jokes.html

Thursday, November 18, 2010

week 7 EOC

Andrew D. Sedlock -http://www.glaserweil.com/lawyers/andrew-sedlock/
Robert B.Kouchoukos http://www.lrlaw.com/professionals/xprProfessionalDetailsLR.aspx?xpST=ProfessionalDetail&professional=195
James E. Harper-http://www.lawhjc.com/harper.html
James D. Boyle-http://www.martindale.com/James-D-Boyle/1757750-lawyer.htm
F. Christopher Austin-http://www.gtlaw.com/People/FChristopherAustin
Steven A. Gibson-http://www.nolo.com/lawyers/attorney/steven-a-gibson-3547.html
Mark A. Hawkins-http://www.fclaw.com/attorneys/bio.cfm?aid=53369
Mark G. Tratos-http://www.gtlaw.com/People/MarkGTratos
Philip A. Kantor-http://thekantorlawfirm.com/Firm%20Info/Lawyers/1064770.aspx
Gary Gene Branton-http://www.albrightstoddard.com/attorneys/gary-b-branton/

week 7 EOC

1. How do I best protect myself from someone else stealing my artwork/design?
2. What’s the first step to take if someone does steal my design?
3. Do you recommend I personally contact a company that I suspect has stolen my idea?
4. How different (percentage wise) does my design have to be than a similar one?
5. What common issues do designers usually overlook in protecting themselves?
6. Do you recommend a lawyer review my contracts before signatures are put on them by the parties involved?
7. Where do you recommend a designer look for a contract template?
8. Is it better to use a template or have a lawyer draft an original contract for my design?
9. If I die and have a patent pending, does it become public domain?
10. When is it necessary to trademark intellectual property?

Thursday, November 4, 2010

week 5 EOC

A lot of lawyers get into law because they want to help people but lets not pretend for a second that lawyers don’t want a chance to stand in front of the Supreme Court and argue their case. I think that any lawyer with a chance like that would jump at the opportunity to do something that amazing. I think it’s funny that everyone thinks that lawyers take advantage of people, most people try to take whatever they can and lawyers are no different. Even though they are just trying to get to the Supreme Court they are still working this case pro-bono and that is nothing to complain about! “While the reasons for doing pro bono work vary, however, the crushing need for legal representation at no cost does not.”(http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/senior_lawyers.html) I think that his case is a high profile case. He doesn’t have the funds to pay lawyers he is lucky that he is getting what he is. In this world you don’t get something for nothing and everyone knows that. “About 26 percent of lawyers are self-employed, either as partners in law firms or in solo practices.(http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos053.htm) So the simple fact is if they can get there name out there than why not. I don’t see this as them doing anything wrong they are just taking an opportunity before someone else gets there, and believe me If it wasn’t them to step in then someone else would have.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

week 4 EOC Deathrace Jeopardy

Week 4 EOC death race jeopardy.

I really liked playing this game. It was really fun and I think everyone enjoyed it. It was funny to see people try to react fast and write down the words before time was called. I think that it was more fun than learning just strait out of the textbook and trying to remember everything just from reading. It gave us a good chance to review for the midterm while having fun and playing as a whole class. Some words that I learned were internet patents which are utility patents issued for software programs and for methods of doing business. Another thing that I learned was if an invention combines two public domain inventions, a patent issued on it will commonly be refer to as a combination patent. I think that people had a lot of fun and its cool that we got extra points for our midterm which I know I am going to need them. I didn’t think that playing my game would be fun but it was and I think that people liked it. A couple of the questions I was stumped on but I really think that everyone had fun. Another thing that I thought was cool is that people got to wager without knowing what they were wagering I thought that was entertaining but I think that I faired pretty well considering that I am leaving class today with a big smile and 48 extra points for my midterm! That’s pretty awesome!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Week 3 EOC

I personally think that using the game is fun to learn the vocabulary instead of reading 100 and something pages. The definitions are slightly hard I think because of the wording they use but this is helping me understand more of them quickly. One of the definitions that I am using are Abandonment of patent application, Which happens when an applicant fails to respond to actions or requests initiated by the USPTO. Another one is Amendment of patent application, which is when an application can be changed in response to a rejection by the US Patent and Trade mark office. This is a fun way of learning and I think actually playing the game will be fun but difficult because of how many definitions they have in the book. I never knew that you could play a game on power point before today. I think that it is interesting how it works. The categories I am using for the game are Applications, Disclosures, Fees, and Patents. Hopefully doing more reading I wont have to change them. Coming up with the categories I think was the most difficult thing about this project but once you do that then the ball starts rolling. I am very interested to see how other people set up their games and how is plays out. Also I wonder how we are going to be doing the other definitions for copyright law and trademark law. Those are long as well. I’m glad that we don’t have to write all these down and memorize them, that would just be to much work.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Week 2 EOC what do i think of lawyers?

What I think of lawyers is they are all about getting paid but there are some that do try to help. I think that lawyers get into the practice of law to try and help people. There are a lot of cases where people who are innocent go to jail and people who are guilty get let go to repeat their crimes to do something even worse. I think that it breaks their spirit. I’m sure a lot of lawyers are good people who want to do the right think but in any job things break you down to where you are doing it for a paycheck and it is not something that you enjoy anymore. There is a reason why people get into law just like any profession and its cause you love it and want to commit your life to it. I don’t think that lawyers are just money grubbing pieces of crap. In any profession people want to make a lot of money. They are not any different from politicians or doctors. We are all human and we strive for things even if that means for some people that we lie or don’t have the best judgment on things.

EOC Week 1 My Voice

My name is daniella Casey and im a portrait photographer. I currently go to the Art Institute and can not wait until I am in the field creating what I want. I think photography sees things that your eye would pass over. It is my outlet into the feelings that I want to share with the world. I see things differently and I want to portray that as best I can. When I pick up a camera I block out everything but that moment and photography lets me explore the world and lets you see it through my eyes. I have been doing photography for 6 years and I mainly create portraits. I do enjoy shooting many other things as well. I love everything about photography and I want to continue my studies in the field for a long time. Eventually I want to be the next annie lebovitz. I want to work with incredible subjects and show my vision to the world. I think that it is better to do something that you love than hide your true self. That is why I am lucky because I found my true passion.