The Docket Archive
The Intellectual Property Blog of Zamani Thomas Legal
This is your curated vault of insights, strategy, and legal storytelling from Zamani Thomas Legal. Inside, you’ll find every article published through The Docket, spanning topics at the intersection of law, creativity, and culture. If you need legal clarity on any of these issues that may apply to you book a consultation.
Whether you’re an artist, entrepreneur, or creative professional, this archive is your legal compass. Explore articles on intellectual property, entertainment law, creator rights, contracts, and emerging tech in this intellectual property blog, all designed to help you protect what you create and thrive in your field. For more tools and insights, visit The Creative Docket Toolkit, where creators protect what they build.
IP Law FAQs for Creatives
June 7, 2025
30 IP Law FAQs for Creatives Whether you’re a visual artist, designer, musician, or entrepreneur, understanding IP law is crucial to protecting your work. This comprehensive guide on IP law FAQs for creatives explores key legal issues and answers 30 of the most frequently asked questions by creators. What is intellectual property (IP) and why
Music Publishing Contracts
June 6, 2025
Music Publishing Contracts Understanding Music Publishing Contracts in 2025 As the music industry evolves, so do music publishing contracts. This updated 2025 guide expands on classic agreements like Single Song and Co-Publishing Contracts with new additions covering AI licensing, NFTs, and streaming-era royalty models. Whether you’re an artist, writer, or producer, understanding today’s contract landscape
Outsquatted?
June 4, 2025
Trademark Squatting: How Creators Can Protect Their Brand Internationally You spend years building your name, your voice, your visual identity, your brand. Then one day, you try to file a trademark internationally… and it’s already taken. Welcome to trademark squatting, the growing problem where opportunists register a mark before you can, often in foreign jurisdictions,
AI Impact on White-Collar Jobs
June 2, 2025
AI Impact on White-Collar Jobs The Real AI Impact on White-Collar Jobs The AI impact on white-collar jobs is no longer speculative, it’s already reshaping how professionals work. From legal research and copywriting to financial modeling and data analysis, artificial intelligence is changing the rules. For creatives, strategists, and entrepreneurs, understanding this shift is critical
Copycat Came 1st
May 30, 2025
The Creative Shield… and it’s Echo Copyright Originality in the Age of AI The question of copyright originality in the age of AI is no longer hypothetical. You spend months working on a project that’s taken decades to arrive at; drafting, editing, shaping ideas. You put your name on it, and you design the cover.
Mayhem in the Merch
May 28, 2025
Lady Gaga Trademark Lawsuit: What Artists Can Learn from the Mayhem Logo Dispute When does a logo become a lawsuit? For Lady Gaga, the answer may be now. In March 2025, Gaga and her creative team were hit with a $100 million trademark infringement lawsuit by California-based surf brand Lost International, who claim that the
“Sabotage”: Right to Say No
May 24, 2025
Beastie Boys Copyright Lawsuit: Artists’ IP Rights Don’t End After Death In a win for artistic control, the Beastie Boys and Universal Music Group have settled their lawsuit with Chili’s parent company, Brinker International, over the unlicensed use of their iconic 1994 track “Sabotage” in a 2022 ad campaign. The commercial mimicked the song’s original
Take it Down
May 23, 2025
Take it Down Act for Creatives | A Win for Artists On May 19, the Take It Down Act for creatives officially became law, marking a major step forward in the fight against digital exploitation. While the headlines focused on revenge porn and deepfake crackdowns, this legislation quietly delivers something long overdue: real federal protection