Nonprofit Bylaws: Can Your Board Answer the “Why” Question?
Nonprofit wizards say this all the time: Update your bylaws. That’s good advice. They describe the nonprofit’s bylaws as its “roadmap” or its “playbook.” Also true. Here’s what I have […]
Author Archive for: Russell Law
Entries by Elizabeth Russell
The Noise Over AI-Impersonation
AI-generated impersonation is real, and it’s a problem. No question. The legal challenge is identifying existing bodies of law to support claims and provide meaningful remedies. Copyright? Contract? Unfair competition? […]
How the “Logo Refresh” Can Wreck Your Trademark
It’s springtime. According to my inbox, graphic designers consider this the best of times to “refresh” your logo. Cool. Before relegating the old, though, consider the trademark implications. United States […]
Living Trust Myths
I do not practice in the field of estate planning. I do work with estate planning professionals, when their clients’ estates include intangible assets such as copyrights. So I’m kind […]
Copyright: New Group Registration Option for 2D Artwork
The Copyright Office has implemented a new registration option called Group Registration of Two-Dimensional Artwork (GR2D). It may be used to register between two and twenty works of two-dimensional art. […]
Arts and Entertainment Law: Attorney as Manager?
If only you could get ethics credit for reading this post. For years, the estate of Leonard Cohen has been embroiled in litigation involving Cohen’s former attorney-turned-manager, and the law […]
Copyright Is Not A Verb
If you’re in a rush, that title is all you need to know. If you crave explanation, here it is. One does not “copyright” (verb) one’s work. Copyright rights attach […]
Second Circuit: VARA Permits Building Owner To Hide Visual Art
Kerson v. Vermont Law School, Inc. (2023 WL 5313521, 2d Cir. August 18, 2023) Artist Samuel Kerson painted two large murals directly onto the walls inside a building on the […]
SCOTUS: Warhol Foundation’s Use of Prince Photograph Not Fair Use
In 1981 Andy Warhol used a photograph made by Lynn Goldsmith as reference for an illustration of the musician Prince. Vanity Fair magazine had hired Warhol to make the illustration; […]
Estate Planning: Copyright and the Limits of Digital Property
Let’s start with five fundamental concepts: Copyright protects original expression. To qualify for copyright protection, that original expression must be “fixed in a tangible medium.” (For example: painted on […]
