Joseph M. Samson, lawyers in Brookline, MA, Massachusetts

Patents

In order to encourage the advancement of science and technology, the federal government gives an incentive to inventors to disclose new ideas that have been embodied in inventions by granting a patent, which is a temporary right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing the patented invention without the inventor's permission. Activity that encroaches upon the right given by a patent is said to infringe the patent, for which an inventor may bring a lawsuit in order to obtain a remedy. More...

The Digital Perfomance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995

The Digital Performance Right in Sound Recordings Act of 1995 (DPRA) created a new limited performance right for certain digital transmissions of sound recordings.More...

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002

The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2002 (TEACH) outlines which uses of copyrighted materials in an educational setting are legally permissible, amending part of the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act so that it applies to distance education conducted virtually through online classrooms. It sets a standard for use of copyrighted materials in online, virtual classrooms that differs from use of such materials in a physical classroom. Under TEACH, teachers employed by an accredited, nonprofit educational institution are granted specific liberties, in addition to fair use, when using digital materials to teach in a virtual setting.More...

Right to Perform Copyrighted Work

Under the Copyright Act, to perform a copyrighted work means "to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process." "Performing" a motion picture or other audiovisual work means "to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible." The Copyright Act defines the term "publicly perform" to mean "to perform or display [a copyrighted work] at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered." "To perform or display" includes to broadcast to such place open to the public. Therefore, performances in concert halls, theaters, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and other common public facilities are covered by the exclusive right of performance, whether the performance is live or broadcast to the public place, while the viewing of a movie in a private home is not a public performance and thus is not covered by the right of performance.More...

State Copyright Law and Preemption

The law of copyright in the United States has become primarily federal since implementation of the Copyright Act of 1976. Thus, the rights conferred under copyright law are of a federal character and are vindicated in federal court. However, state law continues to fill in areas that are not explicitly governed by the federal Act. The areas that were not pre-empted by the passage of the Copyright Act are common law copyright and protection of pre-1972 sound recordings.More...