News & Analysis as of

Copyright Ownership Appeals

McDermott Will & Emery

Que sera, sera: No declaratory relief after songwriter’s heir terminated copyright assignments

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Addressing the intersection of a trust beneficiary’s rights to royalties and an heir’s copyright termination rights under 17 U.S.C. § 203, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Fair Use Defense Results in Default Judgment

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a copyright infringement claim alleging copying of a photograph, finding that the defendant’s use of the photograph did not constitute...more

MoFo Tech

D.C. Circuit Holds that Works Created Solely by AI are Not Copyrightable

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On March 18, 2025, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the D.C. District Court’s and U.S. Copyright Office’s decisions, holding that a copyrighted work cannot be authored exclusively by an AI system. Computer...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Religious Texts, Copyrights, and Estate Law: A Case of Strange Bedfellows

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part a case involving a deceased religious leader who owned the copyrights to works reflecting his teachings. The Court found that the copyrighted...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Focus on Funk: 40-Year-Old Copyright Claim Is Time-Barred

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In a summary order, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s orders in a case involving an ownership dispute over the copyrights to certain compositions by Parliament-Funkadelic bandleader...more

McDermott Will & Emery

It’s All Grecco to Me: No “Sophisticated Plaintiff” Exception to Discovery Rule

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In a case of first impression, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that there is no “sophisticated plaintiff” exception to the Copyright Act’s discovery rule, which provides that a copyright claim only accrues...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Family Feud: Counterclaims Too Little, Too Late

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The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that aggrieved family members’ counterclaims for various intellectual property matters were long overdue and subject to a laches defense....more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Will “Success Kid” Owner Continue to Succeed on Appeal in Copyright Dispute?

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Years ago, Laney Griner took a picture of her then toddler son, Sam, at the beach clenching his fist in what appeared like a celebratory gesture. The photo went viral, and later became a widely used meme on the internet known...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Copyrightability? Think Outside the Checkbox

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The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed a district court’s judgment that a customer intake form was not copyrightable because it lacked requisite originality. Ronald Ragan, Jr. v. Berkshire Hathaway...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Same Old Story: Copyright Discovery Rule Still Applies

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court’s infringement determination, finding that the copyright owner’s claims were timely since they were brought within three years of discovering the...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Seeing Starz: Circuit Tension Regarding Damages Accrual in Copyright Cases

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The Copyright Act prescribes a three-year statute of limitations (17 U.S.C. § 507(b)), and the default “incident of injury” rule dictates that the three-year clock starts running when the infringement occurs. However, when a...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

You Know His Name (Jason). You Know the Story (Friday the 13th). But Do You Know Who Owns Jason? The Second Circuit Does - and the...

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As of today, there have been twelve (yes, twelve!) movies released as part of the Friday the 13th series of horror films, as well as a television series. For those of you who have not seen any of these films, they are not for...more

McDermott Will & Emery

A Tale of Two Authors: Determining Ownership Rights of Novels Adapted for Theatre

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The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit vacated the district court’s opinion and order that Roberto Ramos Perea, the playwright who adapted the novels of prominent Puerto Rican author Enrique Laguerre for theatre, was...more

McDermott Will & Emery

When Pictures Aren’t Pictures: Real Estate Agent-Generated Floor Plans Are Outside Copyright Infringement Exception for Pictorial...

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Examining whether the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act enacted in 1990 protects the creation of floor plans, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that such technical drawings generated for...more

McDermott Will & Emery

International News: Healthcare - Spotlight on the Industry - May 2021

Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment in the Global Healthcare Industry - Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF) seek out investments that are resilient, conducive to their aims and objectives, and reasonably free from market...more

Bracewell LLP

Artists Beware - Second Circuit Holds That Andy Warhol’s “Prince Series” Is Not a “Fair Use” of Copyrighted Photograph

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In a recent decision, Andy Warhol Found. for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, the Second Circuit upset conventional thinking regarding the concept of “fair use” with wide ranging implications for artists and copyright...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Matter How Many Touched the Flowers, Single Infringement Begets Single Statutory Damages Award

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In a dispute over the alleged infringement of a floral print textile design, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the plaintiff’s ownership of a valid copyright, but reversed and remanded for further...more

McDermott Will & Emery

By the Book: Unauthorized Material Doesn’t Forfeit Training Guide’s Copyright Protection

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The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a copyright owner in a lawsuit alleging infringement of the copyright in a home-services training manual, finding that the jury was correctly...more

McDermott Will & Emery

“Salacious” Content Doesn’t Bar Discovery in Copyright Infringement Suit

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The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit preserved discovery options for copyright owners fighting online piracy when it reversed the district court’s refusal to allow a subpoena of an alleged online...more

McDermott Will & Emery

11th Circuit Tells Guitar Maker to Take a [Pantera] Walk on Delayed Copyright Claims

Affirming a summary judgment in favor of defendant, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit determined that a copyright infringement lawsuit pertaining to the graphic design on a guitar made famous by a late heavy...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Transfer of “Know-How” Includes Copyrights

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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

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Video Gaming / E-Gaming Law Update – November 2019

Main Quest: Does Your Gaming Stream Violate the Copyright Act? Streaming platforms, such as Twitch, Mixer and YouTube Gaming, are quickly becoming household names, with daily viewership rates that rival those of more...more

McDermott Will & Emery

That’s All He Wrote: Copyright Owners No Longer Enjoy Presumption of Irreparable Harm

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Addressing for the first time the issue of whether a presumption of irreparable harm should apply in copyright infringement cases, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that it did not, aligning the rule for...more

McDermott Will & Emery

No Gold for Inaccurate Copyright Application

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision invalidating a copyright registration because the registration contained knowingly inaccurate information. Gold Value Int’l Textile v. Sanctuary...more

Jaburg Wilk

Protect Your Copyrighted Works and Avoid Liability for your Website

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On April 16, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Erickson Productions, Inc. v. Kast. The Erickson decision teaches several important lessons. First, it reminds copyright owners of the...more

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