Happy New Year!

- From all of us at the Law Office of Henry Park, PC.

Image is from Vector Open Stock under the Creative Commons Attribution License.

Copyright - Can I use this image from the internet?

     A while ago, an individual asked whether he could use on a commercial website an image he found on the internet, that apparently was being used by a fair number of websites.

     My first reaction was no.

     My second reaction was probably not, unless the image was in the public domain; the copyright holder had released the image under a permissive license, like a Creative Commons license; or your use of the image qualifies as a fair use (fair use can be a complex area of law, and presenting a fair use argument can be expensive).

     My third reaction was don't assume that because other websites are using an image that means you can use it. 

- Henry Park

Copyright - Reverse Image Search

     A colleague asked about how to identify potential copyright infringers on the internet.  There are a number of ways to do so.  One method uses a reverse image search engine (link to article identifying 8 such engines). These engines have indexes of images generated by crawling the internet, and they search their index for images that are similar to the original image.

     Two engines that I prefer are:

     1.  Tineye.
 

     2.  Google's reverse image search (link to the instructions) through its image search engine.

- Henry Park

Security - Yahoo! and closing accounts

     Yahoo! announced yesterday that a billion user accounts were hacked in 2013 (link). This follows last year's announcement that 500 million user accounts were hacked.

      A few websites are saying that Yahoo! users should close down their accounts (link 1, link 2). But, those sites are saying that you should close the barn door after the horse has left. If you had an account with Yahoo!, and your account information was taken then closing your account won't  prevent your information from being distributed.

     Closing your account however would signal to Yahoo! that you do not trust their security, and there are questions a plenty about Yahoo! data security measures. If you want to close your account, Yahoo! provides a webpage with notices about closing your account, and you can close your account at the webpage "Terminating your Yahoo account".

- Henry Park

Season's Greetings

May your Holidays be filled with family and friends.  Best wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a new year filled with health, happiness and sucess.

- From all of us at the Law Office of Henry Park, PC

Domain Name - Reversing a UDRP decision with the ACPA

     What do you do when a trademark owner files a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Policy ("UDRP") complaint to transfer the domain name and the panel decides to transfer the domain name?

     Depending on the grounds for the UDRP decision, you may challenge the transfer with a claim of reverse-domain name hijacking under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act ("ACPA"). Such a claim is possible if, the domain name registrar and/or the domain name holder are located in the U.S. because as in the UDRP complaint, the trademark owner agrees to jurisdiction of the courts at the location of the principal office of the concerned registrar, or the domain name holder's address. UDRP Rules Section 3(b)(xii).

    While there haven't been many reported cases challenging UDRP transfer decisions, one of the earliest cases making this claim is Walter v. Ville de Paris, S.D. Texas (4:09-cv-03939).  In that case, Ville de Paris, or the City of Paris, originally filed a UDRP complaint against Walter for the parvi.org domain name.  The UDRP panel transferred the domain name despite finding that the domain name was not originally registered in bad faith.  WIPO decision, Case No. D2009-1278.  Walter then filed a lawsuit alleging that the transfer violated the ACPA's reverse domain name hijacking provision.  Complaint.  Ville de Paris did not answer, and the court entered default judgment for Walter.

    Recent cases illustrate that aggrieved domain name holders are using the ACPA to challenge UDRP transfer decisions.

     In Marchex Sales, Inc. v. Tecnologia Bancaria, S.A., E.D. Va. (Civil Action No. 1:14cv1306), the domain name holder brought an ACPA claim for reverse domain name hijacking after the UDRP panel ordered the transfer of its two domains, banco24horas.com and banco24horas.net.  WIPO decision, Case No. D2014-0834.  Tecnologia failed to answer, and default judgment was entered for Marchex.  Google Scholar link.

     In Domain Vault LLC v. Bush and eClinicalWorks, LLC, D.Co. (Civil Action No. 14-cv-2621), the domain name holder brought an ACPA claim for reverse domain name hijacking after the UDRP panel ordered the transfer of its domain, eclinicalworks.com.  WIPO decision, Case No. D2014-1059.  This case was settled, so we don't know whether the domain was transferred.  However, I suspect that the domain name was not transferred because the WHOIS information does not reflect that the holder is eClinicalWorks, LLC.

     In Smith v. Director's Choice, LLC, D.N.J. (Civil Action No. 15-0008-71), the domain name holder brought an ACPA claim for reverse domain name hijacking after the UDRP panel ordered the transfer of its domain, directorschoice.com.  NAF decision, Claim No. FA1411001590433.  This case is still pending.

- Henry Park

Privacy - Amazon Go store

    The Internet is abuzz about Amazon's new grocery concept store Go (link 1, link 2) that does not have any checkout lines.

     Apart from potentially displacing hundreds of thousands to millions of grocery store workers (link 3, link 4), there also are privacy concerns. Amazon uses machine learning, computer vision, and artificial intelligence to track a customer through the store and to track what items the customer has selected for purchase. This probably means that there are cameras everywhere in the store.  The cameras watch you enter, associate your face and person with your Amazon Go application when you log in, track you around the store, and track which items you pick up for purchase. This also means that the cameras will be tracking you when you stop in front of other items that you might consider purchasing, and probably recording that information. If Amazon is recording potential purchases for marketing purposes, I hope it will be discreet in how it handles marketing based on potential purchases and not like Target (link 5).

- Henry Park

Reciprocity - New Jersey and New York find common ground

     This is an update to my earlier April 18th, August 19th, September 1st, and October 17th posts.

     Yes.  The list of jurisdictions having reciprocity with New Jersey keeps growing.  As of December 6th, the list is up to 33 jurisdictions.  From my personal point of view, the most important addition is the State of New York.




- Henry Park

Copyright - US Copyright Office changes DMCA designation system

     Yesterday, the US Copyright Office changed its system for designating a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) agent. This change is important because properly designating an agent is required for an on-line service provider, such as a website that allows users to post content, to qualify for safe harbor protection from claims of copyright infringement. To designate an agent, the service provider must (1) provide contact information on its website, and (2) provide the same contact information to the Copyright Office.


     Under the old system, a service provider mailed in a paper form designating its agent that the Copyright Office maintained indefinitely.

     Under the new system (available here), agents must be designated using an on-line form instead of a paper form, and designations must be renewed every three (3) years. If you previously submitted a paper form, you have until December 31, 2017 to submit a new designation on-line and to maintain the continuity of the safe harbor.

     Given that designations expire after three (3) years, we suggest that each service provider calendar a renewal notice.

- Henry Park

updated on 12/6