Creative freedom towards liscenced items

Is it possible to copyright (protect) a creative work (story) that is based upon characters/premise that is already licensed, for the purpose of selling the idea to the license holders? What rights, if any, would the creator of these works have to his work?

snooping competitors

If company x wanted to know what company y was doing, could company x compile information obtained from the internet about company y, including the news releases posted by company y. also what if a person was asked to do this for comany x for a fee.

temporary trademark protection?

i've started a company with a unique name. i haven't done a proper registered search yet, but feel 99% confident that the name is not registered.

how can i protect the mark until i apply for and am awarded registered status?

i cannot afford the fees at the moment and want to be smart moving forward in the interim.

Using a Product Trademarked Name in an LLC Name

I want to form my own LLC and had a name picked out but found out that there is a computer product using part of the name with a trademark on it. For instance, say I wanted to use ''Expursion Repair'' and the product with the trademark is called ''Expursion''. Is it okay to register my LLC with this name?

Court Order on Property Settlement

I was to be paid 10,000 for the sale of my half of property buy Dec 11. I haven't received any and was offered a check for only 8000 ''in my lawyers name'' buy the other lawyer. Is he in contempt of the

court order? My lawyer wants me to accept in order to get his fees out of that check then go after the other 2000. I refused and am thinking of pursuing the on my own. It seems cut & dry the sale of my half for 10G by 11 Dec if not paid by then deal is null and void and contract is breached. Should I be able to sue?

when does a designer's rights end and a company's begins?

I am a web designer who worked for Company A. I recently quit Company A to pursue starting a new company, Company B. Before I left, I asked my boss (the owner of Company A) if i could use works that I produced while working for Company A to promote myself as a freelancer and to promote Company B. He orally agreed.

2 months later, he emails me saying he saw the links on Company B's website to works produced by Company A (these are only to projects that I produced while working for Company A).

Can I legally use works I produced while at Company A to promote Company B? What if there's a textual confirmation next to said works stating they were produced by Company A, but are capabilities by a designer from Company B?

copyrights and publishing

I am a photographer and want to publish a book of my pictures and quotes from famous people. Most of my quotes come from quotation books. What type of permission do I need to use these quotes? Thank you.

trademarks

If I publish a trademark without the permission of the owner can I be found guilty of infringement and made to pay damages?

Secondary Liability in Copyright Infringement

Hello.

I have recieved notice that i am being sued for copyright infringement of an internet photograph.

Whilst i am happy to deal with the lawsuit, i have a question regarding secondary liability.

I live with my fiancee who is named as the internet account holder (she pays she bill etc). She had no prior knowledge of the infringment, yet im concerned about any vicarious or contributing liability because she is providing an internet connection.

Does she stand to be liable for my infringement? Would a lawsuit argue that she is providing the means simply because she pays the bill?

Thanks

Web Designer Claiming Copyright Infringement

I am a web site owner. I contracted with a Web Designer, and provided detailed information about what I wanted for my site. The Designer developed a quotation that listed what I wanted in sufficient detail that I felt we had a decent agreement. I signed the scope document, and paid her $3,200.00 over the agreed installments. When she saw that my idea for marketing 'mini-sites' to my authors was a hit, she came back after being paid in full claiming the 'mini-sites' were not included, and that she would only license them to me. I refused on the grounds this was specified up front, and she was to build a template that I could manually reproduce each time I sign a new author. She is 23, her atty from a big firm is 53 and suing me 'pro bono'. They are threatening to sue my web host if they do not remove these files under USC 17 106 and 501 claims. I am struggling to launch my biz. I don't have an atty but feel I am the rightful owner under USC 101 as I hired her and there is a contract. They claim one second there is no contract because the scope doc does not say 'work for hire' in it, yet it is clearly a contract and signed by both parties. How can I stop them from shutting my site down? I gave her all the info to do this work!

gift in return for buyout of property

I created a website for myself and added some pages to that site for a friend of mine. There is no argument over who made the site and who it belonged to (i.e. i paid for everything and did all the work) We subsequently bought property together and then had a personal falling out.

In an email to her I said, ''we need to finish up business between us. I will give you the website as a gift and we need to either sell the property or you need to buy me out. (Cash down payment from me was $56,000) It is now 15 months later, she has not bought me out and has refused me access to the properties and of course property values have fallen drastically. Regarding the website, she insists I gave it to her and it is hers. Is this true?

Where can I find information regarding laws about gift giving?

In my mind, the gift was given if she bought me. I also had asked her to pay the hosting fees. She did for 1 month and then stopped. I kept the site up for 1 year and paid the fees but eventually took it down.

Is this site hers?

Vehicle abandonment

I have a vehicle in my yard for more than 2 years and i dont have a title the original owner got arrested and now he wont come get the vehicle his girlfriend now my fiance has tried contacting him but we cant and the city wont let us register it. Can we legally claim the vehicle? if we can How?

copyrightability of source code

is source code of cmputer software

copyrightable?

Copyrighting the ideas

Is it possible to copyright a story independently made based on characters/ideas/story, that are already copyritten/licensed for the purposes of selling it to the license holders? If not, how can the work in of itself be protected by the author?

Trademark Use In Commerce on Goods

Is a mark considered in use in commerce when it is placed on goods (not yet sold) and on displays associated with the goods then transported across state for the purpose of presentation to prospective investors or possible business partners?

Product Reviews

If a website writes products reviews do they need permission on the individual products? Or to use pictures of the products? If a review is negative could the site be sued for Lible?

My photo of my friend put on magazine cover without permission

I took a photograph of a friend in a custom-made smoking jacket. That photo was used for a cover of a cigar magazine without my permission. The cigar magazine photoshopped the original smoking jacket into a different fabric. What recourse am I entitled to?

Copyright Law

I went to a football game back in September down in Florida with a friend of mine. At the Florida Gators football game I took pictures. When I came home I posted my pictures on Webshots. My photos were downloaded 7 times by unknown person(s). Recently while searching on eBay I found that four of the photos I took at that game were stolen and are being sold for money. Would I have a case against the seller? I am in NY. The game was in FL. The seller lives in GA.

Copyright?

Is it legal for a website to copy and paste an article from a news site as long as they give credit or does that violate any copyright law?

Software Development

What should I consider when preparing to sell a software product I am developing? I'm an experienced programmer, but have not had to deal with the Legal side of things. Do I need a EULA? Can I draft this myself or should a lawyer do it? How does licensing work?