First Republic Executives Fail in Attempt to Recover Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Assets
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
Ninth Circuit holds that custom Ford Mustang called “Eleanor,” which appeared in four films from 1974 to 2000, is not entitled to character copyright protection under Towle test and that licensor of custom car design did not...more
Most reputable online marketplaces have long offered policing programs to address counterfeiting of registered copyrights and trademarks. The copyright or trademark owner needs only to provide the marketplace with a copy of...more
Yuga Labs Inc. (Yuga) – the creator and marketer of the well-known "Bored Ape Yacht Club" collection of nonfungible tokens (NFTs), referred to as Yuga Bored Ape images – filed a complaint in July 2022 against conceptual...more
The assumption that artists love credit is challenged when an artist appears to repudiate their authorship. Sometimes repudiation arises from personal animus while in other instances an artist might feel that their work is no...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently ruled against the heirs of songwriter Hugo Peretti in their attempt to terminate a copyright grant for Peretti’s composition “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” a huge hit...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit that sought a declaratory judgment on the basis that a notice of termination of copyright assignment under 17 U.S.C. § 203 did not validly...more
Although it is generally accepted that tattoos are copyrightable, one of the only definitive judicial statements on the issue came by way of a preliminary injunction hearing in 2011 involving Mike Tyson’s famous tribal face...more
Sometimes the truth hurts – but what is the truth here? On October 23, Melissa Jefferson, professionally known as Lizzo, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court in Los Angeles seeking a declaratory judgment...more
The Second Circuit issued a remarkable decision on termination rights under Sections 203 and 304(c) of the Copyright Act that seemingly, whether knowingly or otherwise, limits the Act’s extraterritorial reach. Ennio Morricone...more
The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit held that federal courts have jurisdiction to hear a declaratory judgment action for injunctive relief involving the Copyright Act even where the defendant does not have a...more
Rapper Tyler, the Creator (“Tyler”), is facing a lawsuit for copyright infringement, which alleges he illegally sampled a 1971 soul song, “Why Can’t There Be Love,” in his 2015 hit, “Deathcamp.” ...more
Does a demand letter from a music rights holder that alleges “millions of instances of infringement” create a case in controversy with the recipient? You may be inclined to answer with an emphatic “of course!”...more
The US Copyright Act of 1976 allows artists, writers, and musicians to “get back” grants of copyrights that had been previously licensed or assigned away. Specifically, artists can “terminate” their copyright arrangements...more
Alien Tort Statute (ATS)/Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA)/Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) - District Court Dismisses ATS Claim Where Alleged Conduct in US Was Not Directly Linked to Injuries Claimed in Other Countries - ...more
As I turn 50 years old this week, I can’t help but think of the famous Happy Birthday song and the class action that resulted in its entering the public domain earlier this year. The class action plaintiffs in that case...more
This copyright case pitted two big YouTube content brands against each other over issues of fair use. On one side is Equals Three, LLC, a YouTube content studio and channel created and owned by Ray William Johnson, an early...more
We previously wrote about a Virginia federal magistrate judge’s report recommending dismissal of a declaratory judgment action brought by several radio stations asking the court to rule that webcasts limited in scope via...more
Last week, Robin Thicke was among several plaintiffs who “reluctantly” (you don’t often see that word used in a complaint like this) filed a declaratory judgment action against defendants including Marvin Gaye estate seeking...more