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Attorney Steve® Internet Law - Brand Protection Essentials - Using the DMCA General tips if someone is abusing your brand online: 1.  Someone copying or displaying your personal photo- could be a violation of the Right of Publicity (using your name, image or likeness for commercial purposes without consent).  Could be a lawsuit if the defendant is financially solvent.  You can also use a DMCA "takedown request" to send to the company where the picture is being posted (a counternotification could be filed by the other party), for example to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. 2.  Send a cease and desist letter to the website administrator (if you can find it on the website, or on the domain "whois" search), or send to the platform provider (ex. Wix, Shopify, Etsy). 3.  File in federal court to seek a "DMCA subpoena" (no, you do not have to file a lawsuit).  This can help you "unmask" a wrongdoer and this can be sent to identify the perpetrator.  For example, once issued, the subpoena could be sent to GoDaddy, Cloudflare, or other company hosting the infringing or offending content. 4.  Report "abuse" to the domain name registrar (ex. fake/imposter website violates the terms of service for the site and should be taken down).  This may provide a better level of anonymity when dealing with a malicious actor. 5.  Trademark violations (domain cybersquatting, counterfeit products, logo infringement, etc.), the same thing, cease and desist letter or DMCA subpoena if the perpetrator has a "private" registered domain name or is otherwise seeking to hide their identity. AttorneySteve.com        

Attorney Steve® - Strike 3 Holdings Litigation Updates - Order to Show Cause Here is a case from Michigan Federal District Court where Strike 3 violated the Court's order (whether intentional or accidental remains to be seen since no response to the OSC has been filed.  This can highlight the importance of seeking to settle your copyright BitTorrent file-sharing case (Tushy, Blacked, Vixen), early on to prevent things like this from happening which can make your name temporarily available on the public docket. For help with a torrent ISP defense case, call us at (877) 276-5084.

Discussions are general in nature as we are not allowed to give legal advice over the internet.

Attorney Steve BitTorrent Settlement Essentials - Submitting financials In this episode of Vondran Legal Hour® Attorney Steve® discusses what we look for in terms of financial hardships when seeking to get the best settlement possible in a Strike 3 Holdings file-sharing lawsuit case.  We have appeared in over 250 federal court copyright infringement cases making us one of the top firms in the United States.  Here are a few of the things you can expect their copyright counsel may look at in determining a reasonable settlement: Income - how much do you make each year?  Salary?  Hourly?  Overtime? (Tax Returns)Monthly cash-flow (how much coming in deposits each month? How much going out?  (Bank statements)Medical bills (dental, vision, verge of bankruptcy)Large student loans coming out of defermentHigh-interest credit card bills with limited cash available to accessDo you own a home?  What is the equity amount?  Do you rent?  If so, how much do you pay?Do you own any investment real estate?Do you own NFTs or cryptocurrencies, gold or silver?Are you currently enrolled as a student?Are you younger and living with your parents?Other evidence of a lack of disposable income (ex. does your Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or LinkedIn make you appear to be well-off)? These are some of the main factors we look at in any infringement case including IPTV infringement, IPTV TV signal broadcast, photo infringement and other IP infringement cases where settlement amount becomes a factor.  For more information visit our website at AttorneySteve.com

Attorney Steve® IP Enforcement Essentials - Protect your brand and IP from infringing or counterfeit importation of goods. If your company has valuable intellectual property (such as trademarks registered on the principal register, trade secrets, copyrights registered with the United States Copyright Office (USCO), or patents registered with the USPTO), then it would behoove you to look into this rather simple way to federally register your rights with the CBP (Customs and Border Protection office).  This is the largest federal law enforcement agency in the United States and they monitor, inspect, and where there is probable cause to believe there is illegal activity going on, seize infringing or counterfeit goods, and even destroy them altogether.  For brands, this is a really good low-cost way to get an extra set of eyes looking out for your intellectual property on a nationwide level.   For more information, or to get started, call us at (877) 276-5084 or check out our website at RegisterIPR.com. Thanks for listening.  Feel free to share this podcast!!

Attorney Steve® Domain Name Dispute Essentials - Overview of the domain dispute procedural process!

Attorney Steve® Copyright Small Claims CASE ACT updates for March 2022 - Corporations, Partnerships and Unincorporated Associations eligible to designate agents for infringement matters! In a new partial final rule, the Copyright Claims Board ("CCB") is now initiating the ability to register an "agent" where copyright claims cases can be served on the corporation.  This allows big companies that are expecting to have a large number of claims filed against them to register an agent.  The complainant in the case must serve the corporation through the agent, or to an email address that is established permitting service.  This is starting now so if your company is looking to get started with the CASE Act go to our website CopyrightCASE.com

Attorney Steve® Copyright Law Essentials - Safe Harbors for Copyright Registration Defects In this exciting episode of Vondran Legal Hour Attorney Steve® discusses copyright registration and defects thereto and how the copyright "safe harbors" come into play.  Plaintiff (Unicolors) filed a lawsuit and had their registration placed at issue apparently because they filed too many of their art/fabric designs in one application and Defendant argued there should have been separate applications.  In other words, they argued this was a 'legal" defect as opposed to factual (remember the old saying that ignorance of the law is no defense).  Well, it appears in copyright infringement it can be!  In essence, the court found this to be a trivial defect, not knowing and material, and held that the copyright safe harbor provision (cited below for your convenience) applies to both mistakes of law and fact.  The district court does not have to check with the copyright office where there are no issues of fraud or material defect. Link to the case Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Muaritz, L.P. case If you need help with a copyright litigation matter call us at (877) 276-5084

Attorney Steve® IPTV illegal Movie and Television Interception and Broadcast - MPAA is hiring internet investigators In this exciting episode of Vondran Legal Hour® Attorney Steve® Copyright infringement lawyer discusses the MPAA (Motion picture association that has members such as Paramount, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Universal, and Amazon Content Services - among others) and a recent job posting on indeed for an internet investigator with copyright infringement investigation experience.  In their job ad, it is noted how movie and television piracy can lead to enforcement options such as civil or criminal.  If you are in the business, and just learning about the illegality, now is the time to get out.  If you need help dealing with a cease and desist or legal demand from the MPAA in Sherman Oaks, or have a related issue, call us for a free initial consultation.  We have helped many clients with IPTV cases including Dish-Nagrastar, and MPA or the A.C.E. Alliance You can find us on the web at MoviePiracyLawyer.com

Attorney Steve® IP Law Updates - February 2022 - Latest Trends in IP law In this episode of Vondran Legal Hour, we discuss some of the most pressing and trending topics in IP Law including: NFT lawsuitsMetaverse and sexual gropingTrademark and Domain Disputes (recent victory for Vondran Legal over a Strike 3 Holdings bitTorrent competitor)Social media defamation law and Anti-SLAPPCrypto currency pump and dump allegations in the Kim Kardashian / Etherium Max case (not to be confused with Etherium - ETH) Hope you enjoy these topics and thanks for listening