How Trump Quietly Ensured He'd Get Rich(er) If Stormy Daniels Dished Dirt on Him

[DonViejo]

by Aaron Keller | 7:05 am, March 7th, 2018

Everyone’s missing a huge part of the Stormy Daniels lawsuit against Donald Trump. It has to do with the hot and steamy world of copyright. The bottom line is that Trump probably owns anything Daniels ever does at this point which pertains to Trump: books, movies, and maybe even porn shoots and strip club dances. Because he probably owns them, he can profit off of them. She cannot.

The Lawsuit.

The lawsuit Daniels filed against Trump on Tuesday surrounds a nondisclosure agreement purportedly directed by Trump, though his attorney and a shell corporation, toward Daniels. The lawsuit and the attached documents, including the purported, secret nondisclosure agreement itself, entered the public record when Daniels’ attorney on filed it in Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. The lawsuit and the attachments appear to detail a series of agreements between Trump and Daniels, one of which is an Assignment of Copyright.

Copyright Law Background.

Under federal copyright law, an author automatically retains the copyright to any work at the point that work is “fixed” in a “tangible medium.” That means anything that is recorded, written down, photographed, or put into a computer is owned by the person who created it the minute it was “fixed” or recorded. (If you’re paid by an employer, your employer owns what you create while you’re on the clock.)

An author can transfer copyright to works he or she owns. Doing so only requires one signature. The owner of a copyrighted work has exclusive rights to do with the property as he or she wishes, with a few narrow exceptions.

Daniels Transferred Her Copyrights to Trump.

more
https://lawandcrime.com/legal-analysis/how-trump-ensured-hed-get-rich-if-stormy-daniels-dished-dirt-on-him/

[DetlefK]

1. Don't you have to register your copyright somewhere? Like a patent?

Or is that only for trademarks?

[C_U_L8R]

3. And a copyright has to be something specific, no?

Like a book that's already been written... or the rights to a specific prospective project.
'The Donald Trump is limp in bed" book might be entirely distinct than the "I pee'd on Donnie" movie. Different IP I'd imagine.

[CaptainTruth]

5. According to current law, copyright exists at the moment of creation.

I worked with intellectual property (patents, trademarks, copyrights) law for several years.

Copyright used to go into effect when a work was registered, then the law was changed so it's automatically in effect when the work is created, so no need to register/file to claim copyright.

However, if you ever need to legally defend your copyright you're on much more solid ground if it's been registered. That gives proof you created it & when, so any professional content creator (author) will register everything they do, so they have proof.

[rainin]

2. I heard she is claiming he never signed the document. n/t

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. I doubt David Dennison is going to chase a porn star for money and keep the story alive.