LotG 005: Of Red Noses, Red Suits, and Red Capes! A Very Merry Christmas with Law of the Geek

• I. An episode about the status of some of your favorite holiday characters, with a few superheroes and a Playboy playmate tossed in the mix!

• II. Sweeping Generalizations!

• III. Thank Yous! @pedr on Twitter for a stimulating discussion after our SOPA episode.

• IV. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
  • A. Rudolph’s coloring book birth, and Geoff reminds Melina that he’s not THAT old.
  • B. The rightsholders to Rudolph.
  • C. Geoff thwarts Melina’s grand scheme regarding the “other” reindeer.
  • D. Geoff and Melina argue over who is going to sing the song.
  • E. The Claymation television special – Spoiler Alert!
  • F. The “Legal Stuff” – How characters are protected.
  • G. 14 Minutes in, the Geekiness begins! – Singing telegrams from “Super Stud” and “Wonder Wench”!
    • 1. DC Comics, Inc. v. Unlimited Monkey Business, Inc.
    • 2. http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2473265100776679658&q=DC+COMICS+INC.+v.+UNLIMITED+MONKEY+BUS.+-+October+11,+1984.&hl=en&as_sdt=2,26
    • 3. Superman v. Super Stud: The seven similar costume components.
    • 4. Animated shoe re-creation: The cosplayer’s nightmare.
  • H. Does a red nosed reindeer have seven protectable elements or one?
  • I. Genericide.
  • J. Geoff assumes Melina can name all the Playmates of the Year, by year.
  • K. Rudolph’s Reserve Beer and Rudolph tableware legal disputes.

• V. Frosty, The Grinch, and we can’t forget about Santa!
  • A. The amazing Mad Monster Party, and more blatantly ignored edit requests!
  • B. Does Coke own Santa Claus?

• VI. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Kwanza! Happy Winter Solstice! Happy Saturnalia! Or, Happy Just Another Week!

• VII. Catch us in 2 weeks, for an “out of this world” episode, as well as another listener mail segment!

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LotG 004: Shiver Me Timbers! A SOPA Discussion.

• I. Arrrgh, matey! Geoff suggests an interactive piracy episode. We thought Melina was the pro-cosplaying
  host?

• II. This is not our typical episode structure. If this is your first time with us, we recommend you go back
  and start with Episode 1, 2, or 3, and then come back!

• III. Breaking down SOPA into an easily digestible “soup” so you have a discussion topic at your holiday
  party! Also, Melina has a minor in Spanish.

• IV. Thank Yous! The Podge Cast interviewed us on Episode 167, Geeky Law!

• V. The Stop Online Piracy Act
  • A. SOPA’s purported purpose.
  • B. Committee for the Liberation and Integration of Terrifying Organisms and their Rehabilitation Into
    Society. Melina loves Red Dwarf. Geoff is more of a Harry Potter guy.
  • C. SOPA hate should be fully informed. Time to debunk.
  • D. Did you know SOPA also covers counterfeit goods and pharmaceuticals?
  • E. The House’s “Four Track Process” to protect IP.
  • F. What does SOPA really do? Breaking down the sections of the proposed act.
    • 1. Section 102 – Attorney General’s methods of criminal enforcement.
    • 2. Section 103 – Enforcement method for IP rightsholders.
    • 3. Sections 104-105 – Immunity to third party sites for voluntarily taking action.
    • 4. Section 201 – Increased penalties for streaming. YouTube much?
      • a. Geoff outs Melina’s flash mob participation for the sake of illustration.
    • 5. Other sections in Title II – Increased penalties regarding counterfeit goods and
      pharmaceuticals.
  • G. Notable supporters and opponents.
  • H. Controversial aspects of SOPA.
  • I. Will the bad jokes never cease?
  • J. What’s next for SOPA? Time for some soup.
  • K. Geoff’s “lawyer answer.”

• VI. We love getting your topics. Look for another listener mail segment soon!

• VII. Catch us in two weeks for a Very Merry Christmas with Law of the Geek!

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LotG 003: One Scroll to Rule Them All

• I. We Love Games! This episode has a different format – half topical and half Listener Mail!

• II. Thank Yous! Rob Justice.

• III. Scrolls v. Scrolls – Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls) faces off against Mojang (Scrolls)!
  • A. Geoff’s a natural at Swedish.
  • B. A little about The Elder Scrolls games (Skyrim just released) and Scrolls (soon to be released by the makers of Minecraft).
  • C. We’ve got nothing legitimate here. This means less legal mumbo jumbo and lots of rampant speculation!
  • D. The Cease and Desist Letter, and Notch’s “<3" response. Quake 3 Deathmatch anyone? Geoff's in. So is God.
  • E. More mudslinging (and maybe a valid point) by Notch.
  • F. The trademark application for SCROLLS and the USPTO’s process.
  • G. @Notch really loves tweeting all about this lawsuit.
  • H. Who’s side is the gaming community on? Melina is really curious. Please post and let us know!
  • I. What’s the deal with Sweden?
  • J. Melina has the giggles this episode. She also consistently fails to comply with Geoff’s edit requests.
  • K. Round 1 goes to Mojang courtesy of the Swedish court.
  • L. Looking into the crystal ball.

• IV. First Ever Listener Mail Segment!
  • A. More legal disclaimers. C’mon guys, what did you expect?
  • B. Safety nets when titling games you’ve created. Submitted by Justin D. Jacobson.
  • C. Merchant of Venus licensing dispute. Submitted by Itamar Weisberg.

• V. Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving!! (Eat lots of Tryptophan!) Catch us in two weeks!

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LotG 002: I Never Drink… Wine

Confused? Listen to Episode 2 to find out more.

• I. These are a few of our favorite things! Vampires and Wine.
• II. Thank Yous! Especially to our special guest host “Drum Guy.” Appearing intermittently throughout the show.
  • James Gabrielsen
  • Chris Engler
  • A. David Pinilla
• III. TI Beverage Group, Ltd. V. Omni Consumer Products, LLC, et al., and TI Beverage Group, Ltd. v. Hot Topic, Inc. et al.
  • A. The family of vampire-y trademarks and origin of the Vampire Vineyards wines.
  • B. Romantic Vampires. What does this have to do with the law? No one knows.
  • C. The IP attorney/front man for the secret circle of wine-making vampires, who’s name we cannot pronounce.
  • D. Further pronunciation outtakes. (No offense Google, We love you, really).
  • E. Hope “Trueblood” Goldie and the Origin of Trueblood wine.
  • F. The Southern Vampire Mysteries, True Blood the HBO show, and Tru Blood orange carbonated drink.
  • G. Geoff’s amazing recap of the important dates, from memory.
  • H. Arguments in the complaint and counterclaim.
  • I. A little about trademark dilution, and how this differs from trademark infringement.
  • J. Trademark Infringement – Likelihood of Confusion
  • K. Of Condoms and Stealth Bombers: The Ninth Circuit’s 8 Factors.
  • L. How this suit may have played out.
• IV. Thanks for all the topics submitted so far! Look for your topics in upcoming episodes, and keep ‘em coming!
• V. Catch us in two weeks!

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LotG 001: Copyr-ight of the Living Dead

This side by side comparison was analyzed by a Federal District Court and will be discussed in this episode.

• I. Happy Halloween! Let’s discuss everyone’s favorite Halloween shambler – zombies!
• II. Dead Rising (Video Game) v. Dawn of the Dead (Romero film) aka Capcom Co., Ltd, v. MKR Group, Inc.
  • A. A little about the video game and the movie from Melina. Yes, she’s a cosplayer.
  • B. A little about copyright infringement from Geoff.
  • C. Allegations in the complaint – 10 points of similarities.
  • D. Melina knows way too much about the judge.
  • E. Judge Seeborg’s 8 points of differences.
  • F. Twister, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, and some truly terrible zombie jokes to get us back on track.
  • G. Wrapping it all up with Trademark Law
• III. Night of the Living Dead (Romero film)
  • A. Voodoo that you do? Geoff’s amazing transition.
  • B. We lose all geek cred.
  • C. Com.pen.di.um. n. “a concise but comprehensive summary of a larger work.” Whatever, Geoff. It was a big compendium.
  • D. Night of the FLESHEATERS?
  • E. Why Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, and how that affects you.
• IV. Have a geeky legal topic you want us to discuss on the podcast? Post here!
• V. Join us again in 2 weeks for more geeky legal goodness!

Note: Throughout the episode, we refer to Dawn of the Dead as the “1979″ version. This is how Capcom Co., Ltd, v. MKR Group, Inc. and Judge Seeborg refer to the film. Please note that the film was actually released in 1978. Hey, we’re attorneys, not filmographers.

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LotG 000: Welcome to Law of the Geek

• I. Welcome to the show!
• II. Introductions of your attorney-hosts, Geoff and Melina.
• III. A bi-weekly podcast about legal topics in the geek world and geeky topics in the legal world.
• IV. Let’s get interactive!
• V. Catch Episode One, releasing concurrently with this episode!

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