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Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

    Intermediate

  • work Practice Area

    Trademark and Copyright

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, May 14, 2024

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$347.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will guide IP counsel on the legal protections available for fictional characters. The panel will discuss strategies for using copyright, trademark rights, and contract provisions to build equity in fictional characters. They will also discuss limitations on exclusive use and will offer best practices for protecting fictional characters, including considerations of the impact of artificial intelligence on enforcement efforts.

Faculty

Amanda E. Schreyer
Member
Morse

An experienced transactional lawyer, Ms. Schreyer focuses her practice on licensing and technology; intellectual property; and privacy and data security. She represents a broad range of media, marketing and e-commerce clients, including media conglomerates and digital publishers; advertising and marketing agencies; video game and software developers; and authors, filmmakers, and creative entrepreneurs, in connection with a variety of transactional matters. Ms. Schreyer serves as an adjunct professor of Trademark Law at Suffolk University Law School, has been a guest lecturer at Northeastern University School of Law and at the University of New Hampshire School of Law, and is a frequent speaker on social media, IP and data privacy at conferences around the country.

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Christina D. Frangiosa
Partner
Neal & Mcdevitt

Ms. Frangiosa counsels clients across various industries about intellectual property and technology law. Her combined litigation and transactional practice concentrates on copyright and trademark matters – from search & clearance, to prosecution, to licensing and enforcement.  In the context of enforcement, her coverage is similarly wide ranging from infringement and counterfeiting, to unfair competition, false advertising, and the influence of artificial intelligence on the protectability of creative works. Ms. Frangiosa consistently works with her clients to educate them about protecting their copyrights and trademarks, including providing specific advice about navigating the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s trademark registration systems and about effectively launching and using their marks in commerce to permit long-term maintenance of their valuable brands.  She has appeared in state and federal courts on behalf of her clients in trademark and other litigation matters, and represents brand owners in opposition and cancellation proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).  Her clients have included advertising companies, authors, computer software developers, consulting firms, educational institutions, entertainment-related companies, entrepreneurs, financial and insurance companies, manufacturers, nonprofit organizations, consumer retail establishments, service companies, and graphic designers, among others. Ms. Frangiosa is also very active in the legal community, serving in many key leadership roles of the American Bar Association’s Section of Intellectual Property Law, providing legal commentary on IP-related issues in the mainstream media, authoring articles, leading CLE seminars, and serving as the publisher of the Privacy and IP Law Blog, which has addressed recent developments in trademark, copyright, computer, data security, and privacy law since 2009.

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Description

The merchandising of fictional characters can be highly profitable. To maximize legal protection, counsel must aid clients in carefully managing the creation, acquisition, and exploitation of rights in characters. Character creators should be mindful of the possibility of prior conflicting rights that may pose a threat or foreclose essential business opportunities. At the same time, entrepreneurs planning to build businesses on a fictional character should understand that their rights may be limited in unanticipated ways.

Copyright, trademark, and contract law all come into play when creating and licensing rights in a fictional character. Copyright law protects the characterization of a fictional character as part of an original work under copyright. Trademark law may protect the character's name and its distinctive design elements, provided that these elements are used in commerce, in connection with specific goods or services. Non-employee contributors may own rights in characters they create--even if created on behalf of someone else; these rights can be acquired through contracts. Copyright and trademark rights exist independently of one another and provide different advantages and terms of protection to the character's owner.

However, there are limitations to each of these types of intellectual property protection. Trademark law does not provide exclusive rights in the character's general traits and abilities. Copyright protection requires originality. Character creators and owners and their IP counsel must understand the limitations as well as the advantages of the protections available.

Listen as our panel examines the legal protections available for fictional characters. The panel will discuss both protecting characters through copyright law and trademark. The panel will also discuss limitations on exclusive use and will offer guidance to counsel on protecting fictional characters, including a discussion of potential enforcement challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

Outline

  1. Fictional characters and the law
  2. Copyright protection for fictional characters
  3. Trademark protection for fictional characters
  4. Limitations for protection of fictional characters, such as fair use, First Amendment, and public domain
  5. Potential enforcement opportunities and challenges

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key issues:

  • What aspects of a fictional character are protected by copyright, and what can be protected with trademark law?
  • How should the work of independent contractors be managed to result in protection for the character's owner?
  • What limitations are there in protecting fictional characters under copyright law? Under trademark law?
  • What best practices should counsel follow in advising clients about their exclusive rights and their ability to protect their creations of fictional characters?
  • What enforcement challenges could arise from the use of artificial intelligence?