Recent IP Horror Stories and Outrages: Tolkien, Greens, Photographers

• The Green Movement Trademarking Controversy and the Dervaes Family: “Urban Homestead®. There, I said it. But according to the Dervaese family, the use of the term “urban homestead” is infringing on their copyright – a copyright that received its registration certificate only in October, 2010.”
• JRR Tolkien Estate Threatens Lawsuit Over Book Featuring Tolkien As Character (Texas author goes to court to defend his free speech against Tolkien estate demands–“right of publicity”–yet another virulent IP right, in addition to patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, boat hulls, semiconductor maskwork, defamation, etc.)
• Photographer Faces Boycott, Outrage Over His Threats To Sue For Photo Of Murdered Girl (A photographer threatening to sue media outlets for running his photograph of Christina-Taylor Green, the little girl murdered in the rampage where Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, is facing a massive backlash and calls for a boycott.)

For more, see The Patent, Copyright, Trademark, and Trade Secret Horror Files.