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The EEOC’s New Guidance Says Discrimination Against “Caregivers” May Violate Federal Law

Published: March 16, 2022

by Lizbeth (Beth) V. West
The Labor & Employment Law Blog

On March 14, 2022, the EEOC released a new technical assistance guidance document entitled “The COVID-19 Pandemic and Caregiver Discrimination Under Federal Employment Discrimination Law.”

Essentially, the guidance reiterates that an employer may not discriminate against an applicant or employee under federal law on the basis of protected classes such sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), race, color, religion, national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.  However, the purpose of the guidance is to illustrate how discrimination on the basis of a protected class can occur, possibly even inadvertently, if employers make assumptions and decisions based on an applicant’s or employee’s caregiving obligations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

WT Clients: David Mamet and Tracy Letts Open on Broadway

Published: March 15, 2022

Weintraub clients David Mamet and Tracy Letts both have plays opening on Broadway in the next few weeks.

David Mamet’s iconic American Buffalo opens March 22 at Circle in the Square Theatre, starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss.

The Minutes, a new play by Tracy Letts, opens April 2 at Studio 54 with a cast including Blair Brown, Tracy Letts, Jessie Mueller, and Noah Reid.

David Mamet and Tracy Letts are represented by Stan Coleman.

New York Times, March 4, 2022

Is Machine-Made Art Copyrightable?

Published: March 10, 2022

by Audrey A. Millemann
The IP Law Blog

The United States Copyright Office has refused to register a copyright for a work of art created by a machine.

The work of art is a two-dimensional picture that is mostly dark and sort of looks like a painting. It is a view looking towards a series of two archways over railroad tracks, with walls along the sides covered in very dark green, purple, blue, and pink foliage, with a tiny bit of blue and cloudy sky above. The title is “A Recent Entrance to Paradise.” The work was created by a machine called “Creativity Machine” and was submitted for copyright registration in 2018 by Steven Thaler.

Is that Bird A Cardinal or a Scarlet Tanager? Who Cares. The U.S. Supreme Court Weighs in on Copyright Infringement and the Issue of Mistake

Published: March 3, 2022

by James Kachmar
The IP Law Blog

This column previously addressed the case of Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., when it was decided by the Ninth Circuit about two years ago. Unicolors is the owner of copyrights in various fabric designs, including a 2011 copyright registration that consisted of 31 separate designs. Unicolors sued H&M for copyright infringement when H&M stores began selling a jacket and skirt that contained artwork that Unicolors claimed to be identical to one of the designs in its 2011 registration. The jury found in Unicolors favor and H&M moved the court for judgment as a matter of law, which the trial court denied. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit disagreed with the district court and ruled that because Unicolors had made a mistake of law in connection with the registration (i.e. it registered it as a single publication when some of the designs were apparently not put on sale to the public all at once), the registration should have been found to be invalid. Unicolors appealed this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, which heard the case last November.