The US District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of an artificial intelligence (AI) company, finding that its use of lawfully acquired copyrighted materials for training and its...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit explained that to be a derivative work, a program interoperative with another must actually incorporate aspects of the underlying work. The Court further ruled that licensees of a...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that there was no actionable infringement where an uncompleted building sold under the authority of a bankruptcy court was later completed....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a photo- and video-sharing social networking service could not be liable for secondary copyright infringement because embedding a photo does not “display a copy” of the...more
The US Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of a motion to dismiss copyright infringement claims as barred by the statute of limitations, affirming the copyright owner’s right to sue even...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s order vacating a jury award of damages for copyright infringement and granting judgment as a matter of law, explaining that the musical work alleged to...more
KEY TAKEAWAYS AND OUTLOOK FOR 2022 -
Like so many things in 2021, a few long-awaited copyright developments have spilled into 2022, with anticipated amendments to key provisions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant in a copyright case based on a “minimal usage” or de minimis use defense. Richard N. Bell v....more
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant, finding no current or future copyright infringement. OverDrive Inc. v. Open E-Book Forum dba...more
Copyright jurisprudence in 2020 was, in many ways, a study in the scope of copyright protection. While certain courts brought century-year-old precedent to the forefront to interpret the scope of copyrights, other courts...more
2/2/2021
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Eligible Subject Matter ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Damages ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Music ,
Music Streaming ,
Oracle v Google ,
Patent Royalties ,
SCOTUS ,
State and Local Government ,
Trademark Royalties
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment grant with respect to a copyright infringement claim related to technical drawings, and reversed the court’s summary judgment grant...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law finding that the musical Jersey Boys did not infringe a copyright held in an autobiography of band member Tommy...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit revived a software owner’s copyright infringement suit because the district court erred in granting summary judgment of no infringement by failing to analyze whether the accused...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s award of statutory damages where the defendant knowingly distributed a photograph without first getting permission to use the photograph. Gregory...more
8/27/2020
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
BuzzFeed ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Management Information (CMI) ,
DMCA ,
Infringement ,
Photographs ,
Statutory Damages ,
Third-Party
Addressing issues of design patent infringement, copyright infringement, trade dress infringement and unfair competition, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of summary judgment...more
In many ways, copyright jurisprudence in 2019 was a study in contrasts. While certain cases represented a “back to basics” approach, answering fundamental questions such as “When can a copyright owner sue for copyright...more
2/26/2020
/ Amended Complaints ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Office ,
Copyright Registration ,
Damages ,
Fair Use ,
Fee Awards ,
First Sale Doctrine ,
Google ,
Legal Costs ,
Music Industry ,
Oracle ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
The Copyright Act
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the district court’s dismissal of trademark and false advertising claims and grant of summary judgment on a copyright claim. Evoqua Water Technologies, LLC v. M.W....more
12/6/2019
/ Appeals ,
Contract Interpretation ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Dismissals ,
False Advertising ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Know-How Directive ,
Proprietary Information ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Vacated
Addressing an issue of whether a letter exchange qualifies as a work for hire agreement under US copyright laws, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed and remanded the district court grant of summary...more
Addressing whether the fair use defense applies to the use of stock photographs under the Copyright Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit concluded that a company’s commercial use of an unlicensed photograph...more
Addressing the use of third-party photographs on a real estate listing website, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found no direct copyright infringement, notwithstanding the display of thousands of copyrighted...more
5/6/2019
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Damages ,
Fair Use ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jury Verdicts ,
Photographs ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Summary Judgment ,
Transformative Use ,
Zillow
In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the term “full costs” in 17 USC § 505 of the Copyright Act has no special, expansive meaning, but is limited to the costs...more
4/10/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Expert Fees ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Rimini Street Inc v Oracle USA Inc ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act
On March 4, 2019, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh in Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc., finding that the term “full costs” in 17 USC § 505 of the Copyright Act has no...more
3/7/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Expert Fees ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Rimini Street Inc v Oracle USA Inc ,
SCOTUS
The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit vacated a district court’s judgment for a second time, finding that the lower court misinterpreted its instructions on remand and failed to give each excerpt of the copyrighted...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed grant of judgment as a matter of law in favor of rapper Jay-Z and other defendants on copyright infringement claims brought by the heir to Egyptian composer Baligh...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a district court’s judgment after a jury trial, ruling that the song “Blurred Lines” infringed Marvin Gaye’s 1970s song “Got To Give It Up.”...more