June 2016

Just what we need. Another how-to book from a bank CEO. Well, it’s not going to happen. A U.S. District Court judge has ruled that Commerce Bank founder Vernon Hill cannot continue to sell his book, “Fans Not Customers: How to Create Growth Companies in a No Growth World,” because it is based on material from a manuscript that is owned by TD Bank (the bank that bought Commerce Bank), so TD Bank now owns the copyright.

Mr. Hill’s next book will be on copyright infringement in a No Growth World.

The New York Times has reached a settlement with powerHouse Books over use of 64 of The Times front pages without the newspaper’s permission. It appears that powerHouse Books published a book, “War Is Beautiful: The New York Times Pictoral Guide to the Glamour of Armed Conflict,” without permission from the newspaper or obtaining a license for use of 64 images that belong to The Times.

Dish Network has been busy. Not providing content, but suing infringers and defrauders in court. Just this month alone, the company raked in $8.6 million.

Kaloud, a California-based manufacturer of hookahs, was just awarded $2 million in statutory damages by a U.S. District Court jury that found that a competitor of Kaloud had willfully infringed the company’s trademark, Lotus, by selling knockoff Lotus hookahs. A hookah (also known as a “sishas”) is a device that vaporizes tobacco or cannabis so it can be inhaled.