The 4th Circuit recently held that a housing developer cannot make its own modifications to, and then use, an architect's drawings where the party's contract expressly acknowledged the architect's copyright in the plans and specified the architect's fees for modifying them.
Although the recent court decision in Viacom v. YouTube represents a victory for website owners who seek DMCA protection, many website owners fail to comply with the strict requirements necessary to shield themselves from liability for 3rd party copyright infringement. Without taking the specific steps outlined below, website owners and operators could still be held liable for copyright infringement by their users, even if they had no idea that the content was infringing.
Earlier this year we put together a handy booklet that describes five simple steps that businesspeople can take to protect the limited liability status of an LLC. We've had a great response, but unfortunately people have had a hard time finding it on our site. For future reference, look for the bright orange button in the middle of our homepage (also on the right-hand column of our interior pages). But to make it even easier to find, I've also included a link below.
The guide is useful even if you have a corporation instead of an LLC (the same basic rules apply). If you don't have either but are thinking about forming a business entity, the guide will give you some background on LLC basics.
Download our Free Go Forward Guide to the Care and Feeding of Your LLC.
你不必成为美国居民也能够使用美国的著作权法。美国的著作权法提供世界上最完整的著作权保护。 拥有著作权的非美国公民(包括媒体或软件公司、作家、博客、艺术家、摄影师、设计师、以及所有从事创新 的职业)能够利用美国法律上的强制方法来保护著作权。这些著作甚至不用在美国注册著作权。
Sie müssen nicht in den USA leben um die vielen Vorteile der
Kopierschutzgesetze in den USA zu geniessen. Diese Gesetze zählen zu
den stärksten der Welt, und Inhaber dieser Rechte, wie etwa Medien-
und Softwarekonzerne, Autoren, Blogger, Künstler, Fotografen, Designer
und andere kreative Profis können ihre Rechte gesetzlich durchsetzen
ohne ihre Werke in den USA zu registrieren.
Imua Legal Advisors client eVenues.com got a nice write-up in today's Seattle Times. If you need meeting space or want to try to monetize some underutilized space in your office, I highly suggest you check them out.

With just over two weeks left in tax season, many people and business owners are wrapping up their returns and starting to breathe a sigh of relief. But before you let down your guard, take a few minutes to review your practices for your corporation or LLC.
In our free Go Forward Guide to the Care and Feeding of your LLC, you'll learn five simple but important steps you can take to help preserve the "limited liability" nature of your entity. (It says LLC in the title, but the guide applies equally well to corporations.)
Imua Law attorney Mona Ibrahim has a new article on Gamasutra discussing former Infinity Ward developers Jason West's and Vince Zampella's wrongful termination and breach of contract lawsuit against Activision.
Check out Mona's article here.
And for some entertaining reading, Kotaku is hosting a copy of the complaint—a masterpiece in bashing the opposition.