Superman is a Depression-era hero thriving in a post-industrial world. He began as an evil mad scientist experimenting on men in bread lines. He developed into a hero who rooted out corruption, manhandled machines, and sympathized with human frailty. Without early copyright protection, Superman almost certainly would not have grown into the tights we recognize today. Without the Fair Use exception to copyright infringement, however, Superman would not have developed into an archetype. The lives of Superman’s creators are used as anecdotal evidence that copyright law does not benefit individuals. The truth, like Clark Kent, is more complicated than it first appears.
The presenter, Anderson Duff, is a partner at Revision Legal, PLLC (www.revisionlegal.com). Anderson specializes in trademark and copyright prosecution and litigation, including proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He counsels clients on a wide range of intellectual property matters including trademark and copyright infringement, licensing issues, domain name disputes, and right of publicity matters. He also advises clients as to defamation, privacy, and advertising matters. Anderson spends his free time telling anyone who will listen about The Learning About Multimedia Project (LAMP) and ranting about intellectual property. Admissions: New York, Massachusetts, Northern District of Illinois, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
This presentation is from Nerd Nite New York City.