Copyright is a form of protection given to an author of literary, musical works (e.g. songs, and melodies), or artistic works (e.g., paintings, photographs), dramatic works (e.g., scripts for films and dramas). To illustrate the importance of copyrights, in 2015 Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and T.I. were ordered to pay $5.3 million and royalties to the Marvin Gaye family after a jury determined that “Blurred Lines” (a song by Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke and T.I.) essentially ripped off Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give It Up.”
For companies, copyright protects the company’s publications and written materials, such as product brochures, instruction and maintenance manuals, and any form of advertising or promotional materials, such as television advertising, radio advertising, and internet advertisements. Copyright also protects computer software, source code and user interfaces.
Mike Tyson's tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Entertainment claiming that the use of his design in the movie The Hangover Part II was copyright infringement. In the movie, Stu Price, a strait-laced dentist played by actor Ed Helms,wakes up after a night of debauchery in Bangkok to find a tribal tattoo wrapped around his left eye, Warner Bros. and Whitmill hashed out an agreement of undisclosed terms.
In 1994, Apple Computer, Inc. (now Apple Inc.) sought to prevent Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard from using visual graphical user interface (GUI) elements that were similar to those in Apple's Lisa and Macintosh operating systems.In 1997, Apple and Microsoft settled the infringement lawsuit in direct negotiations
Galactica was produced in the wake of the success of the 1977 film Star Wars. 20th Century Fox sued Universal Studios (the studio behind Battlestar Galactica) for copyright infringement, claiming that it had stolen 34 distinct ideas from Star Wars.” including a character named Skyler, similar to Skywalker. Ultimately the case was ruled in favour of Galactica.