Intellectual Property

Ska Brewing battles Maryland's DuClaw over trademark for Euphoria

Ska Brewing has been making its Euphoria Pale Ale since 2005, but the latest trademark dispute involving a Colorado brewery isn't likely to make anyone euphoric. On Tuesday, the Durango brewery filed a petition at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, asking the agency's trial and appeal board to r ... More >>

Loveland's Verboten Brewing tells a craft-beer trademark story with a happy ending

Verboten Brewing, which will open its doors this weekend in Loveland, takes its name for the German word for "forbidden," and is a reference to German beer-purity laws, or Reinheitsgebot, which forbade brewers in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from using anything but water, barley and hops in ... More >>

Left Hand Brewing wages a trademark battle for the word "Nitro"

On September 29, 2011, after the first night of the annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Left Hand Brewing publicly revealed a bottled beer that its owners and brewers had spent two years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to create. See also: - Strange Brewing faces a trademark threat ... More >>

Colorado will soon be a player in the patent wars

On the front lines of the costliest battle in the high-tech world

Strange Brewing faces a trademark threat from a Massachusetts homebrew shop

Something strange is going on. In September, as Denver's Strange Brewing was gearing up for a small expansion as well as the Great American Beer Festival, owners John Fletcher and Tim Myers got a letter from a lawyer demanding that they change their name. See also: - De Steeg Brewing will open on ... More >>

Bear in CU-Boulder photo killed on Highway 36

Over the past week or so, we've covered the brouhaha over a photo of a bear falling from a tree on the CU-Boulder campus; see our original coverage below. The shot became an international sensation, as well as the basis for plenty of memes and GIFs included in this post. Now, however, there's infini ... More >>

Five worst moments in musical plagiarism

How awesome is "Big Pimpin'," by Jay-Z? Really awesome. But some folks argue that its awesomeness comes courtesy of an unlicensed sample, and they'd like to be compensated. A new round of legal claims has been brought against HOV by a handful of heirs and music publishers who argue that the track ... More >>

The problems with SOPA and its sweeping side effects

Remember that mixtape you made for your high-school sweetheart? Or that time you taped a movie off cable? Turns out you were breaking the law, pirating copyrighted materials without permission. While the statute of limitations has probably long passed on your crimes of teenage passion, entertainme ... More >>

Feds close to granting medical marijuana patent to NY-based research company?

​The U.S Department of Health and Human Services is about to give exclusive rights to the government-owned patent on marijuana to a single pharmaceutical company based in New York -- a state that doesn't even recognize medical marijuana as a valid therapy.Think that's unfair, fellow Colorado m ... More >>

Stop Online Piracy Act headed for the House

​The Protect IP Bill (S. 968), which was introduced back in May, was delayed after Sen. Ron Wyden argued it might infringe on free speech. While it appears that bill has been halted for the moment, it has been replaced with a similar one, The Stop Online Piracy Act (aka E-Parasites Act) , whic ... More >>

Beyoncé accused of plagiarism for a dance number -- wait, can you copyright dance moves?

​Beyoncé can't seem to catch a break this year: Back in May, she was accused of pulling a little more than just a casual homage to Lorella Cuccarini with her VMA performance of "Run the World (Girls)," and now she's getting called out for copping dance moves from German choreographer Anne Ter ... More >>

BitTorrent motion alleges legal business model targeting porn downloaders

​Imagine receiving a letter from an attorney accusing you of illegally downloading a cinematic classic like, say, The Wadfather or The Man Who Blew Too Much, but offering you a chance not to be accused of this offense in public court for a few thousand bucks. Would you take the deal? Plenty of ... More >>

U.K. announces copyright reform plan

​While the U.S. has been floundering a bit with its copyright law, the British government has just announced its plans to reform and update its own. Its certainly not the most important issue facing the U.S. government right now, but it was a platform during President Obama's campaign and rema ... More >>

ISPs agree to six strikes copyright enforcement

​Internet users beware: you've now got six strikes against copyright infringement before your account can enter a "mitigation phase." Major Internet providers, including Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and others, have agreed to saddle up with the music and movie businesses to finally start cracking do ... More >>

Library of Congress and Sony Music team up for massive collection of free vintage recordings

The Library of Congress has just turned on its new streaming audio service, which includes a large piece of the national archives totaling around 10,000 titles. The joint venture of Sony and the Library of Congress gives users access to many Sony-controlled recordings that have long been out of circ ... More >>

Alki David gathers some hip-hop and R&B acts and trolls CBS over Limewire distribution

​This might be some of the weirdest copyright related news we've run across in a while. FilmOn founder Alki David has teamed up with a slew of musicians to file a lawsuit against CBS Interactive and CNET over CNET's distribution of LimeWire. Back in November, a federal judge had to issue a res ... More >>

Grooveshark challenges Google and the music industry in a battle of legalities

​In case you haven't been paying attention, there are some heated battles going on in the digital space right now with regard to digital music distribution rights. Just three weeks ago, Amazon launched their cloud storage and streaming services much to the chagrin of the major labels. As we wa ... More >>

Steaming music illegally could be felonious if IP Enforcement's recommendations are enacted

​The White House has publically stated it's going to start cracking down on piracy and enforcing IP law, but other than some crackdowns last year, we haven't seen much in the way of a cohesive strategy. Well, until Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator Victoria Espinel delivered this t ... More >>

One Denver man's obscure but intriguing copyright case goes to the Supreme Court

Stravinsky, looking shifty-eyed.​It's been ten years since University of Denver professor Lawrence Golan filed his copyright suit in Colorado District Court, seeking the revocation of copyrights retroactively placed on works previously in the public domain, and now, after a lot of batting arou ... More >>

Brian Hill: Chronically ill, autistic blogger's lawyer blasts Denver Post for Righthaven suit

Brian Hill.​Twenty-year old diabetic North Carolina hobby blogger Brian Hill, who's being sued by Righthaven LLC for unauthorized use of a Denver Post photo, is practically destitute and can't afford a lawyer. But after reading our item about the case, Fort Collins intellectual property attorn ... More >>

Reader: Could Denver Post be sued for copyright infringement over Mike Rosen self-plagiarim?

Mike Rosen.​Our item yesterday about KOA talk-show host Mike Rosen seeing nothing wrong with recycling one of his old Rocky Mountain News columns in the Denver Post stirred a lively debate. Given that Nevada's Righthaven LLC has been suing news agencies for unauthorized use of Post material, o ... More >>

Study shows music piracy on the decline, porn the most popular of it all

​Anti-piracy and counterfeiting prevention company Envisional recently released a report detailing the 10,000 most popular files crossing the streams of BitTorrent trackers. Porn has taken the top, uh, seed, followed closely by non-porn film, while music was near the bottom of the list. What ... More >>

Rocky Mountain Right website goes on hiatus due to fear of being sued by Denver Post

RMR logo.​Visitors to Rocky Mountain Right's website can usually find conservative news and commentary -- but not right now. The home page is currently emblazoned with the phrase "Access Denied." That's because site overseer Antony Surace has temporarily blocked users to the page due to concer ... More >>

Google actively combats copyright infringement

​Google has announced a new plan to help combat copyright infringement by reshaping their search technology and offering an easier and more accessible takedown request form. The news comes hot on the heals of news that the U.S. Government has begun a multi-tiered crackdown on piracy and counte ... More >>

Denver Post parent MediaNews Group puts Mike Rosen column at center of copyright suit

Dean Singleton.​Last month, we noted that Denver Post and MediaNews Group execs weren't eager to discuss a copyright-infringement warning published by the paper. At the time, we asked these three questions: "So... what prompted the Post to rattle this saber? Are lawsuits imminent? And against ... More >>

Cyber Monday ripoffs: See 7 Colorado website domains seized for selling counterfeit goods

​Overwhelmed by the number of sites offering Cyber Monday deals? Well, now there are 82 of them, including seven in Colorado, you don't need to visit -- because their domains have been seized for allegedly selling counterfeit or copyrighted goods. See the list and get more info from the Justic ... More >>

Two-year-old spoof of "What What (In the Butt)" garners copyright infringement suit

According to an official statement from Brownmark Films, the company, best known for the above completely idiotic video and Internet phenomenon from 2007, has decided to file a lawsuit against Viacom International, Comedy Partners, Paramount Pictures Corporation, MTV Networks and South Park Digita ... More >>

Dean Singleton says Dan Maes "probably isn't competent to be dog catcher"

Dean Singleton.​In late July, after a Denver Post editorial argued that he wasn't qualified to be governor due to his poor business record, Dan Maes suggested that he might limit the Post's access if it didn't begin to cover his campaign more evenhandedly. But Post publisher and MediaNews Gro ... More >>

Scott McInnis dodges John Ferrugia's questions about plagiarism, Rolly Fischer

John Ferrugia.​Yesterday, Scott McInnis made his first public appearance -- at Adams State College in Alamosa -- since word of his plagiarism problems broke. But according to Channel 7's John Ferrugia, who was there, McInnis treated a subsequent interview like a game of dodge ball, repeatedly ... More >>

Scott McInnis: Denver Post rushed to judgment, says writer in second plagiarism claim

Greg Moore.​Denver Post editor Greg Moore defends a story about an alleged second example of plagiarism by Scott McInnis, as well as the decision to deal with questions about it in an article that began with repudiations of McInnis by Rolly Fischer, the candidate's designated fall guy. But a w ... More >>

Dan Maes: If Scott McInnis drops out, conservatives should rally around me

Dan Maes.​As Scott McInnis's plagiarism problems worsened, Republican power brokers began to consider what to do should he drop out of the guv race. And while there's plenty of debate about who the best candidate should be, there's wide agreement among such folks about who it shouldn't be: Dan ... More >>

Scott McInnis, Rolly Fischer and the more dubious part of the Denver Post scoop

Rolly Fischer on Channel 7.​For the past three days, the Denver Post has run big stories about guv wannabe Scott McInnis. Day one's offering, about apparent McInnis plagiarism in lousy water articles, was a slam dunk -- and likely dooms his campaign, with even the likes of Dan Caplis turning a ... More >>

Scott McInnis's statement on plagiarism controversy doesn't hold water

Scott McInnis speaking up.​The plagiarism controversy plaguing Scott McInnis is only getting uglier, and his awkward attempts to make it go away are doing nothing thus far to tidy up the mess. The problem is exacerbated by both substance and style. McInnis's official statement on the issue -- ... More >>

Ward Churchill-Scott McInnis connection: Plagiarism's their common bond, say CU regents

Ward Churchill.​The Scott McInnis plagiarism brouhaha has been a gift to the Colorado Democratic Party, which has had trouble whipping up the faithful of late -- and they're taking advantage of it. The latest broadside: a statement from two CU regents, Michael Carrigan and Stephen Ludwig, who ... More >>

Rocky Mountain News archives at the Denver Public Library: You still can't see them -- and it'll be a while longer before you can

A Flickr photoThis is the place to see lots of interesting stuff from the Rocky -- someday.​On Friday, we let you know that E.W. Scripps had finally sold the intellectual property of the shuttered Rocky Mountain News, although it's not revealing who bought it. Since then, there's been specula ... More >>

Rocky Mountain News intellectual property sold -- but former owner E.W. Scripps isn't saying who bought it

Photo by J. KnightScripps CEO Rich Boehne at the news conference announcing the final edition of the Rocky.​On February 26, the day before the first anniversary of the Rocky Mountain News' final edition, we published an item about the status of the paper's intellectual property -- most importa ... More >>

Is E.W. Scripps getting serious about selling the intellectual property of the Rocky Mountain News?

E.W. Scripps has made no secret of its desire to sell the intellectual property of the Rocky Mountain News -- but the company hasn't done much since the tabloid's February closure to peddle these particular wares. That appears to be changing, however. In recent days, a number of potential bidders ... More >>

A Creative Class

Join Denver Open Media for a discussion of culture.

Murder, She Wrote

Frozen makes for a chilling night of theater.

What a Concept!

Eggheads hope to crack out of their shells at an upcoming expo.

The Name Game

A contest puts the Crush on local football fans.

Bitter Suite

A Denver conductor and music professor leads an ensemble fight to protect the classics.

Best Japanese Restaurant

Domo

Custody Battle

Marvel Comics isn't going to give Joe Simon his son, Captain America, without a fight

Credit Check

Can borrowing an idea without fessing up be considered plagiarism?

In the Hole

The state gives it up for an inmate rape.

Nightmare on the Net

A web of intrigue surrounds the high-stakes legal brawl between FACTnet and the Church of Scientology.

LETTERS

TOUGH TO SWALLOW

CU WAGES A DRUG WAR OVER THE PRENATAL VITAMIN MATERNA.