News of the Week; January 6, 2021

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. The Copyright Board Begins 2021 with Less Transparency and More Potentially Dysfunctional Delays
2. UK Music Rights Group Demands Payment From A Pub That Isn’t Playing Any Music Because It’s Closed Due To COVID
3. U.S. Amends the Copyright Act to Establish Copyright Small Claims Tribunal 
4. Why You Should Be Cautious of the New Copyright Small Claims Court
5. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. v. ComicMix LLC (USCA, 9th, 12.18.20): Unauthorized Dr. Seuss & Star Trek mash-up “Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!” was not fair use of copyrights because the book did not parody or critique
6. A New CJEU Judgment on Copyright-Related Geoblocking – One Step Forward or One Step Back in the EU Commission’s Fight Against Geoblocking? (Eric Goldman)
7. 1925 Was an Annus Mirabilis for Culture
8. Ferrari‘s Testarossa passes the “Test of Genuine Use” before CJEU 
9. Battle of the Bentleys: Bentley Motors loses trade mark appeal against Bentley Clothing
10. USA: 25% Fee hike for Trademark Applications via Madrid Protocol 
11. US Trademark Modernization Act Provides New Relief to Trademark Owners
12. Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 – Use It or Lose It 
13. What to Know About the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020
14. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 3 (Trademarks) (Eric Goldman) 
15. Battle of the ballet shoes: UK court finds infringement of registered community design
16. Software and Business Method Patents – How to Improve Your Chances?
17. Court Interprets Purported Contour Lines in Design Patent Drawings as Claimed Features 
18. No Simulating Alice Requirements: Application of Abstract Ideas Alone Cannot Transform Patent Ineligible Subject Matter 
19. Twelve Cannabis Plant Patents and Counting 
20. Looking for a patent database? Need a little Inspire-ation?
21. Patent Licensors Can Prevent Challenges to Patent Validity
22. 2021 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year 
23. Pro-Trump reporter gloats over access to fleeing Hill staffer’s computer
24. Court says Uber can’t hold users to terms they probably didn’t read
25. Ticketmaster admits it hacked rival company before it went out of business
26. Activist hedge fund advises Intel to outsource CPU manufacturing
27. 60 Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic About Section 230; Blames Unrelated Issues On It
28. Parler, Desperate For Attention, Pretends It Doesn’t Need Section 230
29. Content Moderation Case Study: Dealing With Controversial & Sexual Fan Fiction (May 2007)
30. WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using the app
31. Google and Facebook Sued for Antitrust Violations in the U.S
32. Too big not to fail? Google’s antitrust woes
33. European Commission Unveils Sweeping Proposals to Regulate the Digital Sector
34. Regulating the Internet, at Last? The Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act
35. Use of fake identities found deceitful in commercial email — why not elsewhere on the Internet?
36. Seven Years Ago, CERN Gave Open Access A Huge Boost; Now It’s Doing The Same For Open Data
37. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 4 (FOSTA) (Eric Goldman)
38. En Banc First Circuit Will Decide Whether Government Needs a Warrant to Put Pole Camera Outside Your Home
39. The Sinking City returns to stores as legal dispute over publishing rights continues
40. CD Projekt gearing up for ‘vigorous action’ against investor lawsuit
41. Apple removes 39,000 games from the App Store in China
42. Apple removes 39,000 games from China store in biggest single-day takedown
43. Microsoft calls for Xbox drift lawsuit to be handled by arbitration
44. Washington ALJ Rules Video Game Developer’s Attendance at Trade Show Created Substantial Nexus
45. A closer look at Raw Fury’s publishing contract
46. Minecraft Earth shutting down
47. Minecraft Earth is going dark at the end of June
48. Saving video gaming’s source code treasures before it’s too late
49. The SpongeBob SquarePants effect: Why THQ Nordic is doubling down on licenses
50. The SpongeBob SquarePants effect: Why THQ Nordic is doubling down on licenses
51. Sony Pictures Developing 3 Movies, 7 TV Shows Based On PlayStation Games
52. Tenet director Christopher Nolan is ‘definitely interested’ in adapting his films into games.

Jon