Banksy Lost a Trademark Battle in the E.U.

 

Banksy Lost a Trademark Battle in the E.U.

After Quotes From His Past Come Back to Haunt Him

The famous and mysterious street artist Banksy lost a trademark battle with Full Color Black's greeting card company. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) ruled that the trademark of one of Banksy’s paintings is invalid. What makes things worse is that Banksy and his lawyer could be the ones to blame for their loss.

The trademark in question is of one of Banksy’s most famous pieces of art: Laugh Now. The artwork depicts a monkey with a sign which states Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.

The greeting card company Full Colour Black specializes in street art greeting cards. Full Colour Black uses the same image as Laugh Now but changes the wording on the sign to quotes such as Bald Is Best and I Bought It on Expenses.

How Banky’s Own Words Were Used Against Him

Pest Control, the company in charge of certifying the authenticity of Banksy’s art, filed for a trademark claim with the EUIPO. Full Colour Black then fought back on this claim, calling for a cancellation of the trademark. They argued that the trademark was non-distinctive and filed in bad faith.

Additionally, Full Colour Black argued that the artwork was spray-painted in a public place where it was free to be photographed and spread by the public. The ruling states that “Banksy permitted parties to disseminate his work and even provided high-resolution versions of his work on his website and invited the public to download them and produce their own items.”

In his own book Wall and Piece, Banksy says that “copyright is for losers”.

Banksy is also an anonymous artist. The ruling states that “It is also noted that as Banksy has chosen to be anonymous and cannot be identified this would hinder him from being able to protect this piece of art under copyright laws without identifying himself while identifying himself would take away from the secretive persona which propels his fame and success”.

Pest Control has presented other trademark applications to the EUIPO, but most, if not all, will likely get denied.

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The E.U. Is Reopening to Vaccinated Visitors

 

The E.U. Is Reopening to Vaccinated Visitors

The E.U. announced today that it is reopening its borders to fully vaccinated visitors or travelers from countries deemed safe by officials. The announcement could go into effect by next week. This announcement could go into effect by next week, just in time for summer tourism.

Many representatives are excited about this agreement, especially those from countries that heavily rely on tourists, like Greece who has already reopened its borders to foreign tourists in hopes to jump-start its economy. All 27 countries within the European Union agreed to this ruling, but each country does retain the right to tweak the rules in a stricter way, such as making visitors quarantine or prove a recent negative COVID test.

The European Union is keeping an emergency brake option on this ruling. The emergency brake option will allow the E.U. to easily switch back to stricter travel regulations if there is a sudden spike in cases or any other emergency created by the virus.

Which Vaccines Are Allowed?

The European Union will recognize any vaccine approved by its regulators or the World Health Organization. Those vaccines are the AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Sinopharm vaccines. The United States uses Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer, so any vaccine issued in the United States is accepted by the European Union.

The list of countries deemed safe by the European Union will likely get finalized by the end of the week. If a country (like the United States) is not on the list, vaccinated individuals can still travel there, but those who are unvaccinated cannot, at least not without being tested or forced to quarantine.

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The Gas Shortage Caused A State of Emergency in North Carolina

 

The Gas Shortage Caused A State of Emergency in North Carolina

How Are They Handling It?

Due to the ransomware cyber-attack on the Colonial Pipeline, the Governors of North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, and Florida declared a state of emergency. The Colonial Pipeline supplies over 45% of the fuel to the east coast, causing a massive gasoline shortage in many States.

North Carolina’s Governor, Roy Cooper, declared a state of emergency on May 10, 2021. As of publishing this (May 14, 2021), the Colonial Pipeline is back online, but many gas stations are still out of gasoline because of frantic buying.

To speed up the recovery process, North Carolina’s Executive Order 213 not only declared a state of emergency but also temporarily suspended certain regulations for fuel trucks and their drivers.

Suspended Regulations

The Executive Order waives many safety regulations for truckers carrying gasoline. Including maximum hours a trucker can drive. Normally, a trucker in North Carolina can only drive 11 hours within a 14-hour window and must wait another 10 hours before driving again.

Another waived regulation is the size and weight regulations and penalties for vehicles supporting the emergency relief efforts to the state by transporting gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum. Not all size and weight regulations/penalties have gotten waived. To find out about the regulations, click here.

These waived rules will be in place for 30 days or until the end of the state of emergency, whatever is less.

Liability

The government placed these restrictions on truck drivers to limit crashes caused by tired drivers or oversized trucks. With these regulations temporarily waived, it leads to the question of liability if there is a crash involving a trucker.

Right now, it is not clear who the bulk of the liability will fall on. Will it be the truck driver? The trucking company? The government? Hopefully, we don’t have a situation like this play out, but it is always good to think ahead.

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Debris From a Chinese Rocket Is Falling Towards Earth

 

Debris From a Chinese Rocket Is Falling Towards Earth

Who Is Liable If It Injures Someone?

Photo: STR/AFP

Long March 5B is a Chinese rocket launched into space on April 28th. Now, debris from the rocket is expected to crash back down to earth, with the largest piece of debris being around 100 feet long (the length of a basketball court). If it manages to land on earth, it will be one of the largest pieces of space debris ever to do so.

When will this happen? It is uncertain, but it’s speculated to occur between late Saturday (5/8) and early Sunday (5/9). It is also entirely unknown where the debris will land. Estimates say that the landing will be between 41.5 degrees North and 41.5 degrees south. Roughly between New York City and New Zealand. As a law firm, our attorneys’ immediate thoughts were: “who is liable if the debris causes damages or injures?”

Who is Liable?

There are clear rules on this since human-made space debris is nothing new. Just last year, Long March 5B also dropped space debris on the African Nation the Ivory Coast. In 1979, fragments of the US space station, Skylab, crashed onto Australia, and the year prior, a Soviet satellite, Cosmos 954, fell onto Canada, leaving radioactive debris all over the area.

International Space laws provide a compensation plan for human-made space debris that falls to earth. This law was enacted during the 1972 liability convention by the UN and places liability on the “launching state” for damages caused by the debris. In this particular situation, this would cast liability onto China. This law has only been enacted once before and that was on the Soviet Union when their satellite fell onto Canada.

It is unlikely that the debris will cause any damages or injuries, however. The earth is 70% water, and if the debris does hit land, most of the land on earth is uninhabited.

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Check out our Morning Musing on this same topic!

President Biden Raises Minimum Wage To $15 For Federal Contractors

 

President Biden Raises Minimum Wage To $15 For Federal Contractors

President Biden signed an Executive Order on April 28th that will increase the minimum wage for federal contractors to $15 an hour. The minimum wage for federal contractors is currently $10.95, which has been in place since 2014 under President Obama. President Biden’s Executive Order also mandates that the minimum wage rises with inflation and cost of living.

The White House stated that the new minimum wage likely will provide hundreds of thousands of federal contractors with increased pay. The White House also stated that they believe increasing the minimum wage will not lead to significant job losses or increased taxes.

Even though a small percentage of the population gets a minimum wage increase, the administration believes that the Executive Order will likely increase the minimum wage in other areas by forcing employers to increase pay to keep workers or hire new ones.

Around 5 million people work on federal contracts, but most get paid over the minimum wage. The ones who get paid less than $15 an hour will see the direct benefit of this Executive Order when it takes effect in 2022.

Tipped Minimum Wage Eliminated for Federal Contractors

President Biden’s Executive Order also eliminates the “tipped minimum wage” for federal contractors. Currently, employers can pay tipped workers $7.65 an hour as long as they receive enough tips to put them above the minimum wage.

The house of Representatives has been trying to increase the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour for years but has not been able to get the Bill past the senate. President Biden also tried to increase the federal minimum wage by incorporating it into his pandemic relief package, but it was taken out by the senate.

What is a Federal Contractor?

“Federal contractors are individuals or employers who enter into a contract with the United States (any department or agency) to perform a specific job, supply labor and materials, or for the sale of products and services”. A federal contractor can be anyone from a security guard to janitorial staff, IT staff, and more. 

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