News & Analysis as of

Summary Judgment The Copyright Act Copyright Litigation

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Use of Floorplans in Real Estate Listings is Permissible Under U.S. Copyright Law

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Floor plans are a key part of real estate listings, providing fundamental information about the layout of a building to prospective buyers or renters. But home designer Charles James and his company Designworks Homes, Inc....more

McDermott Will & Emery

Fair use or foul play? The AI fair use copyright line

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

Baker Donelson

The Northern District of California Weighs in on "Transformative" Use of Copyrighted Books for Training Generative AI Tools

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Only a few months ago, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that the use of "headnotes" in a legal search tool, for the purpose of training a competing legal tool driven by artificial intelligence (AI),...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Multiple California Courts Enter Summary Judgment That Using Copyrighted Material to Train AI Platforms is Fair Use

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Within a roughly one-week period in late June 2025, two federal judges in the Northern District of California entered summary judgment rulings on the issue of “fair use” in connection with generative AI platforms’ use of...more

Falcon Rappaport & Berkman LLP

Twin California Rulings Mark a Turning Point for AI‐Copyright Fair Use

In the space of forty-eight hours, two judges of the Northern District of California issued detailed, partially contrasting opinions on whether large language model (“LLM”) training that copies entire books without...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

When Is a Car a Character? The Ninth Circuit Revisits Copyrightability in Halicki v. Carroll Shelby Licensing

The Copyright Act does not expressly address the protection of individual characters in expressive works, but courts have long recognized that certain characters, particularly those with strong visual or narrative identities,...more

Snell & Wilmer

Second Circuit Holds Musical Works Registered Under the Copyright Act of 1909 Are Limited to the Deposit Copy

Snell & Wilmer on

The Second Circuit recently decided Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Edward Christopher Sheeran, considering whether Sheeran’s hit song “Thinking Out Loud” infringed the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic “Let’s Get It...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

The New York Times Calls Out OpenAI on Its Motion to Dismiss

Responding to the OpenAI brief that read more like a press release than a traditional motion to dismiss, the New York Times attacked OpenAI's approach from the very first sentence, calling the factual background of OpenAI's...more

Weintraub Tobin

Court Rules Lego Creation Based on Religious Texts is Eligible for Copyright Protection

Weintraub Tobin on

In JBrick, LLC v. Chazak Kinder, Inc. et al, 1-21-cv-02883 (EDNY Sep. 21, 2023) (Hector Gonzalez), the District Court for the Eastern District of New York granted the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment regarding the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

It’s a Taking: Copyright Deposit Requirement Violates Fifth Amendment

Addressing the issue for the first time, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the Copyright Act of 1976’s requirement to deposit two copies of a work with the Library of Congress within three months...more

McDermott Will & Emery

When Are Compulsory Copyright Licenses Compulsory?

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The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit partially affirmed a district court’s summary judgment order holding that audiovisual recordings of live concerts do not fall within the scope of the Copyright Act’s compulsory...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Publisher’s Fair Use Defense Dries Up

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The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned a district court’s summary judgment, rejecting an accused publisher’s argument that their use of copyrighted photos embedded in articles was fair use under the...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Oh the Horror: No Work for Hire in Friday the 13th Screenplay

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The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a summary judgment grant, ruling that an author was an independent contractor when writing the screenplay for a horror film and entitled to authorship rights, and...more

McDermott Will & Emery

De Minimis Defense Doesn’t Protect Minimal Use of Concededly Infringing Material

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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

McDermott Will & Emery

Second Circuit: Supreme Court Google Precedent Doesn’t Alter Copyright Law’s Fair Use Analysis

Addressing fair use as an affirmative defense to copyright infringement, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit amended its recent opinion, reversing a district court’s summary judgment in favor of fair use. The Court...more

McDermott Will & Emery

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

McDermott Will & Emery on

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

“Can’t Hold Us” Liable: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Win Affirmance in Copyright Suit

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The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a grant of summary judgment on the issue of copyright infringement and an award of attorneys’ fees against the plaintiff under the Copyright Act. Although the Court noted...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Second Circuit: No First Sale Doctrine for Reproduced Digital Files

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Holding that reproduction of a digital file for purposes of resale does not fall under the “first sale” doctrine of the Copyright Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Usenet Server Owners, Operators Are Not Directly or Secondarily Liable for Copyright Infringement

McDermott Will & Emery on

Addressing copyright infringement issues, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in defendants’ favor on direct, vicarious and contributory infringement claims. Perfect...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Second Circuit Revives Copyright Claims Against Sony and Ghostface Killah

In Urbont v. Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 15-1778, the Second Circuit recently revived claims against Sony and Ghostface Killah, holding that although third parties may raise a work for hire defense, here there were factual...more

WilmerHale

Copyright and Trademark Case Review: In "Vogue," Burning Man, Building Plans and More

WilmerHale on

Copyright Opinions - Samples in Madonna's “Vogue” Too Trivial to Be Infringing: VMG Salsoul, LLC v. Ciccone, Nos. 13-57104, 14-55837 (9th Cir. June 2, 2016) - Graber, J. In a suit claiming infringement of both...more

WilmerHale

Did Aereo Open The Door To Compulsory Licenses?

WilmerHale on

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in ABC v. Aereo Inc., 134 S.Ct. 2498 (2014), that Aereo’s internet retransmission service was “substantially similar” to cable, and therefore violated the Transmit Clause of the Copyright...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Party Raising “First Sale” Defense to Copyright Infringement Bears Initial Burden of Proof - Adobe Systems Inc. v. Christenson et...

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Addressing the appropriate allocation of the burden of proof related to the “first sale” defense to copyright infringement, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit confirmed that the initial burden of proof falls on...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

Ninth Circuit Says “Let’s Go Crazy” On Fair Use of Prince Song In YouTube Video

n Lenz v. Universal Music Corp. et al, the Ninth Circuit held that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”) requires copyright holders to consider fair use before sending a takedown notice and that the failure to do...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

“BRING IT ON!”: Sixth Circuit OKs Copyright Claims for Cheerleader Uniform’s Design

On August 19, 2015, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a “V-I-C-T-O-R-Y” for the world’s largest designer and manufacturer of cheerleader uniforms in its copyright infringement lawsuit against another cheerleading gear...more

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