Today's General Counsel, April 2021

Page 10

COMPLIANCE

Overview: Operating in an Uncertain Global Marketplace By  JOE VALOF

B

usinesses operating in today’s global marketplace face serious business and legal issues related to intellectual property ownership, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, bribery, data privacy, patent trolls and remote working. The world-wide pandemic has added to uncertainty in the marketplace. IP ownership: The lower courts

10

TODAYSGENERALCOUNSEL.COM APRIL 202 1

have heard some important legal issues, including whether software code can be copyrighted and when fair use applies. With regard to fair use, U.S. copyright law allows limited use of copyrighted materials for purposes of news reporting, research and criticism (to name just a few) without permission or payments to the copyright holder. Fair use determinations

are generally made by state courts. The problem, however, is that state judges have had difficulty determining what constitutes fair use, so there have been varying decisions. Judges in the Southern District of New York are considering some social media-related fair use issues, i.e., what it means to embed an Instagram post versus just displaying the picture BACK TO CONTENTS


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.