2025 Summer Associate Wade Marshall contributed to this article.
Recently, two Northern District of California decisions revealed fault lines in the forming fair use terrain for GenAI copyright infringement actions. Both...more
Some of the largest movie studios have entered the fray of GenAI copyright litigation. Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures, and DreamWorks sued the image-GenAI company Midjourney, Inc. in the...more
6/16/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Damages ,
Entertainment Industry ,
Fair Use ,
Film Industry ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Machine Learning ,
Plagiarism ,
The Copyright Act ,
Willful Infringement
Last week, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Thaler v. Perlmutter. The opinion notably solidifies the U.S. Copyright Office’s position that works generated autonomously (and thus solely) by artificial...more
On Tuesday, February 11, a Delaware district court issued much-awaited summary-judgment decisions in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH et al v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., No. 1:20-cv-613, potentially shaping how future...more
2/13/2025
/ Algorithms ,
Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Legal Technology ,
Machine Learning ,
Summary Judgment ,
Technology Sector
Since platforms like Midjourney and DALL-E became popular, using text-to-image models to generate “AI art” has surged, making it increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI-generated art and human-created works. This...more
1/22/2025
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Applications ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Office ,
Copyright Registration ,
Innovation Patent ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Machine Learning ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Technology Sector
Global E-commerce platforms continue to grow, with many online marketplaces replacing traditional brick-and-mortar stores. While online marketplaces help legitimate products reach consumers more widely than brick-and-mortar...more
8/26/2024
/ Amazon ,
Brand ,
Consumer Product Companies ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Counterfeiting ,
Design Patent ,
E-Commerce ,
eBay ,
Goods or Services ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet Retailers ,
Online Marketplace ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Retail Market ,
Takedown Notices ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Wal-Mart
On February 21, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. et al. v. Nealy et al. The case involves whether plaintiff music producer Sherman Nealy may recover damages for...more
2/23/2024
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Damages ,
Discovery ,
Music ,
Music Industry ,
Petrella v. MGM ,
SCOTUS ,
Sound Recording Copyrights ,
Statute of Limitations ,
The Copyright Act
It has been nearly thirty years since the US Supreme Court has considered whether a creative work qualifies as a transformative use under the Copyright Act. The last time was in 1994, when the Court in Campbell v. Acuff-Rose...more
5/19/2023
/ Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Artistic Works ,
Artists ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act ,
Transformative Use
Thank you for reading the October 2022 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss an ongoing trademark suit involving a claim of irreparable harm, share the now open gTLD Sunrise periods,...more
10/28/2022
/ Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc v Goldsmith ,
Cease and Desist ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Fair Use ,
False Advertising ,
gTLD ,
ICANN ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Irreparable Harm ,
Lanham Act ,
Oral Argument ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Websites
On Wednesday, October 12, 2022, at 10 a.m. EDT, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, No. 21-869. William H. Milliken, a director...more
Copyright owners now have another venue for enforcing copyrights: the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). Established by the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (CASE Act), the CCB aims to provide...more
6/23/2022
/ Actual Damages ,
Attorney's Fees ,
CASE Act ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Forum Selection ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Statutory Damages
[co-author: Ivy Attenborough, Summer Associate]
Thank you for reading the June 2022 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the differences between Copyright Claims Board and federal...more
6/22/2022
/ Actual Damages ,
Attorney's Fees ,
CASE Act ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Email ,
Forum Selection ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Scams ,
Statutory Damages ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court granted Unicolors' request for review of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (9th Circ. 2020). According to Unicolors, the Ninth Circuit’s...more
The June 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses recent litigation surrounding copyright registration invalidation and implications of the increase in trademark application filings at the USPTO....more
6/29/2021
/ Cannabis Products ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Office ,
Copyright Registration ,
Evidence ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Intent to Defraud ,
Marijuana ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
Patents ,
The Copyright Act ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The Second Circuit recently decided whether artist Andy Warhol’s series of silkscreen prints and pencil illustrations titled “Prince Series” was a fair use of photographer Lynn Goldsmith’s copyrighted photograph of musical...more
4/6/2021
/ Artists ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Derivative Works ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Paintings Sculptures and Engravings ,
Photographs ,
Substantially Similar ,
The Copyright Act ,
Transformative Use
The March 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses fair use cases for photographs and three recent developments in the cannabis space. We also highlight recent accolades earned by Sterne Kessler's...more
4/5/2021
/ Artists ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Cannabis Products ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Dietary Supplements ,
Fair Use ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Hemp ,
Hemp Related Businesses ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jurisdiction ,
Marketing ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Photographs ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Substantially Similar ,
Trademarks ,
Warning Letters
Because copyright applications are not substantively examined, unlike patent and trademark applications, obtaining a copyright registration is typically viewed as relatively easy. Indeed, only a minority of copyright...more
The Switch by Nine. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified when a copyright owner can sue for infringement, settling the conflicting interpretations of the Copyright Act’s “registration” requirement, which we...more
4/5/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Applications ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Damages ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Remedies ,
SCOTUS ,
Statute of Limitations ,
The Copyright Act
The March 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter addresses a Supreme Court ruling about suing for copyright infringement, the 2018 Farm Bill and CBD products, and lists the new gTLD Sunrise Period.
In...more
4/3/2019
/ Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Farm Bill ,
Federal Trademark Register ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
gTLD ,
Marijuana Cultivation ,
SCOTUS ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks
Two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court clarified the test for determining when a three dimensional design for a “useful article” is copyrightable, resolving an issue that had divided the federal circuit courts for years....more
The July 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses how to maintain rights in core trademarks as brands evolve, a reminder regarding importer and exporter liability for shipping counterfeit goods,...more
8/1/2018
/ Brand ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Counterfeiting ,
Domain Names ,
Exports ,
gTLD ,
Imports ,
SCOTUS ,
Sunrise Periods ,
Trademarks
The July 2018 issue of Sterne Kessler's The Goods on IP® discusses developments on copyright infringement lawsuit timing, prosecuting consumer product claims that include conjunctive limitations, and an update on membership...more
8/1/2018
/ Canada ,
Claim Construction ,
Consumer Product Companies ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Design Patent ,
Foreign Patent Applications ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
The Hague System ,
USPTO