What type of form do I need

I will be interviewing subjects for publications in magazines, newspapers and books. I wanted to know what type of release form I need to have them sign, authorizing permission to do so.

Stolen jokes

I do stand-up comedy in smaller venues. Several of my shows have been taped and are on a national web site. I was watchinga TV show the other day and saw several of my jokes in the script, but they were slightly modified. The show was aired about eight months after my jokes appeared on the web.

What would be involved in trying to prove someone stole my jokes? Could they claim they simply thought up the same jokes and had never seen mine?

Can I use photographs I took while working for an agency?

I am a staff photographer at an ad

agency where we shoot a lot of food

photography. I'm wondering If I can

use some of these photographs in

my own portfolio (physical and

online). Perhaps if I state that they

are owned by the agency and I took

them while working there?

Magazine Publishing

We are thinking about starting a magazine that is a price guide for collectible cards (Magic the gathering, baseball, basketball, etc) Do we need special permission from the companies to do that?

Artwork

this may or may not be a legal question but I thought that I would start here - I paint paintings - just on canvas no framing - for a lady who then puts her frames them - this lady now wants me to send her more prints so that she can make t-shirts and calanders and so forth - do I need a lawyer to help me with the a contract or something - I am not sure what even to ask for percentage of future sales.

Patenting an idea

Let's say that I thought of a new way to apply the use of a newly designed bicycle. The bike is a new invention that has a patent pending itself. However, it is still a bike. Let's say, for argument sake, the gear mechanism on the bike is new, unique and different, allowing the rider to peddle less but travel farther. Now let's say that I thought of a cool way to use this type of bike for entertainment and recreation that the manufacturer may have never thought of. Can I patent the idea that I have for the use of said bike? Not the bike itself but the idea on how it could be used.

Name rights in minor characters in a novel or show

If a business or product is named after a minor character, place or group in some rare novel or show, what are the legal implications? A full trademark search shows no other uses of the name, except as stated (usually this is a fantasy character or place) we have accidentally matched in our own creativity. Though clients do ask us about rare Startrek names, for example.

Arizona School District Naming Rights

Gentlemen,

I am looking to market products to high schools in Arizona and eventually across the nation using their school name and logos at times. I need an attorney that is well versed in copyright, tradename and trademark protection to direct me on the usage of the names and logos and protect my idea against copycat vendors. Please respond if you are qualified, so we can set an appointment and get underway.

notice of order

what is a notice of order

Copyrights/ Reproduction rights

How much of a source can I legally use without having to secure reproduction rights?

Printing logos on promotional items

I'm starting a promotional products company (pens, mugs, t-shirts, etc). Some things I can print myself, others I have to have the manufacturer imprint the item. If someone wants me to print a company logo on something, what are my responsibilities? It will usually be an employee or franchisee that is ordering items.

Mentioning Information Sources

I am building a list of hotels that has been taken from both online booking websites (like bookings dot com) and paper travel guides (like Lonely Planet and Rough Guides). The list will be available for free online. I am not using the text those sources use to describe the hotels, but rather making my own interpretation of their entries. The only 'real' copies information is the hotel name, the address and the contact telephone number.

I have 2 questions:

- Can I use those sources problem-free since I am not copying the text?

- Can I mention the fact that I used those sources in a marketing campaign ('Contains all hotel information from XXX!'), providing it is true?

Thank you very much for your precious help.

government/intellectual property

I am a marketing exec working for an agency that developed a health awareness brand (intellectual property) for the city government. Looking to privatize the brand by engineering a deal for a private firm to buy the brand and develop it by creating a commercial business model to maximize the profit potential of said brand. Such a deal would potentially involve a flat fee and/or the private firm committing to an agreed upon percentage for x years to be recommitted to city programs.

question 1: is the city government bound from the sale of a brand or profiting at all from intellectual property? Is it not the same as the city of Denver selling the naming rights of Mile High Stadium to Invesco?

Question 2: Is the city prohibited from entering any contract where they are accepting a percentage of a private firm's revenues in context of the overarching arrangement where they have released the brand ownership? In other words would there be some sort of inside training / conflict of interest issue? If so would it typically be a scenario that is resolved by a bid requirement? In other words could the city put the brand development ownership out for Bid with consideration of who would offer the best proposal for long term development?

British vs American copyright

Hello,

I have an idea for a childrens book franchise. The name i want to use is already in use by a british company who makes wrappingpaper and little gifts to sell in stores. Is it copyright or trademark infringement if I try to get that same name copyrighted or trademarked in america? I know these gifts were sold in barnes and nobles a while ago, but when i went to the companies website there was nothing about this name i found. Also went on ebay to see if anyone is selling anything related to them and found 1 person in england seling a rollof wrapping paper.

Thanks!

Thanks!

domain name

I own a very popular domain name. I get 1000s of hits every week. The domain name is similar to the domain name for a well known european band with presence in the U.S. This band has sold 200 million albums. The spelling of the band's name in Europe is with an ''I'' and in the U.S. with a ''y''. so when American's spell the name, my web site pops up. I want to do something with this web site but I have been told I could get sued if I were to bring it live. All I have now is a counter, my phone number and a sign that says for sale or barter. I wrote a letter to their management company offering to sell the domain name with no luck. I get offers from other bands that want me to rent or link to their web site for a fee...Iwas wondering what it is that I can do or can't do. I don't want to break any domestic or international laws but I know I should be able to make some money by all the hits I get on my web page. Any suggestions?

Copyright law for art

I commissioned an oil painting from a local artist. The subject was my idea. He never would have painted this subject without me commissioning it. The artist and I looked through many photos of this subject and he found the inspiration for the finished piece from among several photos he found (so he did the legwork).

He painted it. It's wonderful. I love it. He's very proud of it, and should be. He went and had it copied so he could make giclee prints of it to sell at his shows. I was uncomfortable with the idea that he could sell prints of the painting I commissioned. He says he owns the copyright and can reproduce it and sell any reproductions. My question is: For a piece I commissioned, does he really own the copyright, and can he sell reproductions against my wishes? The copyright law seems to say that he would this would an ''artist for hire'' in which case I really own the copyright. Can you advise who owns the copyright and if he is legally within his rights to sell prints?

Thanks,

rgl

Copyright and Script

I am currently working on a film script and am unsure of the following. Is it legal for my characters to talk and express an opinion on a copyrighted item (such as a video game, movie, music, characters withing movies, etc)? This would include specifically mentioning names of companies and their copyrighted items.

copyright infringement

I received a notice from a Florida company called ''Super Stock, Inc.'', asking me to ''cease and desist'' use of their copyrighted stock image on our company website. I obtained this image through a general Google-type web-based search and as such, it was freely displayed without copyright or marked as such in any way that I could reasonably ascertain (it may have some digital code that is invisible). I did not obtain it from this company directly in any way, nor was I aware that it is intellectual property legally copyrighted by anybody. There are a lot of images on our website that were obtained from common public websites which display so-called ''free'' and uncopyrighted materials.

This company included an invoice for damages of $6,122 without any detailed explanation of how they arrived at such a figure, saying they would not sue if I paid such amount. I immediately removed the image in question from our website, so it is no longer on display.

QUESTION: Since this is the first request I have received from them or anyone else to ''cease and decist'' use of this image, in your opinion, does my company owe them any damages?

Thank You.

legitimate address and name

is the following address and firm

legitimate? home office; 165

fulham palace rd. w6 8jb uk.

firm; the national lottery.

patent royalties

the company i work for has been paying patent royalties to another company for using its component. My company built the same component, but the other company had the patent already on it. I am an engineer, and I found the patent and the schematics for the patent. There is something wrong with their design of this component, and i know how to fix it. If I fix this problem with the component, will my company still have to continue paying royalties, and also, would we be able to file a countersuit? any advice would be helpful. thanks.