Federal Judge Finds UCL Claim Is Preempted By Copyright Act

Mealey's (May 27, 2016, 12:40 PM EDT) -- SANTA ANA, Calif. — A California federal judge on May 25 found that a claim for violation of California's unfair competition law (UCL) and copyright infringement asserted by a meditation center business and its owners should be dismissed, finding that the UCL claim was preempted by copyright law and that the plaintiffs failed to allege substantial similarity in relation to the copyrighted works (Divine Dharma Meditation Int'l Inc., et al. v. Institute of Latent Energy Studies, No. 16-226, C.D. Calif.; 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 68890)....