Recent copyright lawsuit,details worth reading

[idraw]

This is an eye opening example what can happen when copyright goes to court and then to trial.
<https://www.texasmonthly.com/style/cat-and-dogma-target-copyright-lawsuit/>

[Windy]

Fascinating! And look how Target went so far as to use the I uncapitalized, just as the designer did!

[Barbara]

That's one for the good guys...sort of. I rather doubt Target will mend its ways. Too much money to be made.

Colorwash's Home

[PenguinPower]

Hmmm… I guess it’s a good thing for her I wasn’t on her jury… I just don’t find what she did there to be unique enough really.. Yeah Target definitely copied her, with a quite similar, but clearly different font, but I just don’t think she can lay sole claim to the words I love you written in any and all script handwriting fonts… Turn this around - how would you feel if Target was the one who’d had it first and they were going around stopping everyone else? 

[Windy]

Excellent point!

[chefcateringbiz]

Got that right. I can probably find 20 fonts that look just like that as well. There's also tons of fabric you can buy with "I love you" patterns, so it's not a new concept, either. And, you have to be able to afford a law-yuh who's willing to take on a Target.

[Connie]

I totally agree! There is nothing unique about her design!

[Fizzy]

Hmm. So she asked for $10.4 million and was given $1 million. I wonder what the amount was that Target offered her for a settlement out of court 🤔. While I applaud her gumption to take on a big corporation, she must have realized that her design wasn't that special and that there were tons of variations of it floating around.

[PenguinPower]

She probably ended up giving a lot of that money to the lawyers and the IRS... and as the taxable amount is what you've been awarded *before* the lawyer takes his/her cut, the bill from Uncle Sam may be a bit of a shocker. Yes, it's not a wonder that people often are advised to and do just take a settlement.

[Windy]

I had to look this up! More information here about when and whether an award in a lawsuit is taxable or not. https://www.irs.gov/government-entities/tax-implications-of-settlements-and-judgments In the case of the plaintiff, yes, I think the award would be taxable as the award was intended to replace lost income.  

[PenguinPower]

Yeah, I figured it would be income, but I did look it up before I totally assumed it... you only get to keep the money tax free if its money from a personal injury and you get taxed on the full amount of the settlement no matter how much your lawyer keeps..