Revisiting McGirt: New Legal Developments Challenge Oklahoma’s Landmark Ruling
On June 30, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music Entertainment, setting the stage for the high court to define copyright infringement liability for internet service...more
Elliot McGucken v. Valnet, Inc., No. 24-1040 (U.S. filed Mar. 28, 2025) - Introduction - In the Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis wrote that “[w]hat you see… depends a good deal on where you are standing….,” but is the...more
The Supreme Court is expected to consider Teva’s pending petition for certiorari in the highly anticipated GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Teva Pharms. USA, Inc. on May 11, 2023, a case that could carry enormous implications for the...more
The fashion industry has experienced another year of continued change driven by consumer trends, innovation in technology, geopolitical and public health issues, and legal developments, and we don’t anticipate that stopping...more
Over the past quarter-century, transformative use has become shorthand for fair use itself. The Warhol case gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to provide balance and flexibility to the doctrine. When I first heard...more
In a somewhat shocking decision handed down in March 2021, the Second Circuit ruled against the Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts in a copyright infringement suit brought by a photographer whose photos of Prince Andy...more
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed last week to review the Second Circuit’s decision that Andy Warhol’s well-known “Prince Series” was not a “transformative” fair use of the copyrighted Lynn Goldsmith photograph that Warhol used...more
The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to consider whether a copyright registration accurately reflecting a work can nevertheless be invalidated without fraudulent intent. Unicolors Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz LP,...more
The Supreme Court has spoken, and it’s official: Copyright infringement claims can only be brought after the copyright in question has been registered in the U.S. Copyright Office....more
The Katten Kattwalk discusses legal issues in the fashion industry affecting the trademarks, patents and copyrights associated with companies, brands and products. ...more
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC has important implications for copyright owners who file infringement suits, including authors of literary, musical, and dramatic works. Key Points: ..The...more
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court rules that copyright owners must have a copyright registration before pursuing infringement claims in court. Resolving a circuit split and a question facing any copyright owner wishing to...more
In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, the Supreme Court resolved a longstanding circuit split by unanimously holding a copyright owner of a United States work may not file an infringement lawsuit until...more
On March 4th, the Supreme Court held that a potential copyright plaintiff must wait until the Copyright Office “has registered a copyright after examining a properly filed application” before suing for copyright infringement....more
On March 4, the US Supreme Court resolved a circuit split and held that, with limited statutory exceptions, the issuance of a registration from the Copyright Office is a prerequisite to filing a claim for infringement. See...more
On a busy Monday for copyright law that saw everything from the return of RBG to discursions about hot dogs at sporting events, the Supreme Court issued two unanimous opinions concerning requirements for filing copyright...more
On March 4, 2019, in a unanimous decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, the US Supreme Court resolved a longstanding circuit split on whether a copyright claimant must have registered with US...more
The U.S. Supreme Court held today that bringing a suit for copyright infringement requires that the infringed work actually be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, and that a mere application for registration will not...more
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held that parties seeking to institute copyright infringement litigation must do more than merely apply to register their work with the Copyright Office prior to filing suit. In Fourth...more
On Monday, March 4, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that a copyright claimant may only bring a suit for copyright infringement after the copyright has been registered by the Copyright Office, not while the registration...more
This Monday, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. ____ (Mar. 4, 2019), that a copyright owner may commence an infringement suit only when the Copyright...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. __ (2019), issued March 4, 2019, resolves a longstanding circuit split regarding whether the Copyright Act of 1976...more
The wheels of government turn slowly to the detriment of copyright owners, according to a unanimous opinion delivered by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v....more
Copyright owners cannot file infringement lawsuits until after the subject work has been granted registration by the U.S. Copyright Office. This unanimous decision from the Supreme Court today in Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit...more
The Supreme Court was busy yesterday issuing opinions involving copyright law (see the TMCA’s post yesterday on Fourth Estate vs. Wallstreet.com concerning the need to obtain a copyright registration before initiating an...more