Articles by Matilda Bilstein
Matilda Bilstein is a 3L and is interested in Copyright and Trademark Law. She has worked as a Dean’s Fellow at WCL’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property in their Copyright and International Documentary Film Project. She has also interned at Erik Pelton & Associates, PLLC, a local trademark firm. She is currently a Student Attorney at WCL’s Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic. Matilda is also interested in Immigration Law and Criminal Defense and has worked as a Dean’s Fellow at WCL’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and interned at the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office. She is the current Treasurer of the American University Intellectual Property Brief.
By Matilda Bilstein
South Africa faces many challenges in the areas of copyright protection and enforcement, especially in combating movie piracy. According to the International Intellectual Property Alliance (“IIPA”), South Africa fails to reach the mandated levels of copyright protection under the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (“TRIPS”) of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (“GATT”), especially regarding enforcement. South Africa is a lucrative market for counterfeit goods due to several key factors: its relatively high per-capita GDP compared to other countries in the region; its high levels of imported western media, technology, and lifestyles; its under-resourced law enforcement agencies; and its high unemployment rate. In 2006, pirated movie sales accounted for 60% percent of South Africa’s DVD market. This cost the South African film industry an annual R500 million, approximately $65 million. The South African film industry loses…
The heirs of Jack Kirby, the creator of many of Marvel’s super hero characters, are suing Marvel over copyright ownership. They have enlisted the help of Marc Toberoff, the same Los Angeles lawyer who helped …
