Mealey's Copyright : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Copyright

July 29, 2022
Takings, Sovereign Immunity Raised In Cert Petition In Copyright Infringement Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a May 4 petition for certiorari, a writer who is embroiled in a copyright dispute with Texas A&M University (TAMU) asks the U.S. Supreme Court to consider when a copyright holder may overcome sovereign immunity by asserting infringement under the takings clause or the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.
July 27, 2022
Jurisdiction In ‘Baby Shark’ Copyright, Trademark Row Lacking

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on July 21 said that because service by email on residents of China is impermissible under the Hague Convention, the owner of various copyrights and trademarks associated with the song “Baby Shark” is not entitled to a default judgment in an infringement action.
July 25, 2022
Vimeo To 2nd Circuit: Lack Of Substantial Influence Permits DMCA Safe Harbor

NEW YORK — Maintaining that it had no substantial influence over users that uploaded infringing videos to its video-sharing platform, Vimeo Inc. in a July 12 appellee brief asks the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm its entitlement to safe harbor from a group of record labels’ copyright infringement claims against it under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA.)
July 22, 2022
9th Circuit Reinstates Copyright Claims Against Vietnamese Company

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge’s dismissal of allegations of copyright infringement leveled over a mobile music application was reversed July 21 by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which said the copyright owner established a prima facie case of jurisdiction over a foreign defendant.
July 15, 2022
17 Amicus Briefs Filed In High Court Fair Use Row Over Warhol’s Prince Series

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A total of 17 amicus curiae briefs were filed from June 15 to 17 in a U.S. Supreme Court case focusing on the transformative factor in determining fair use in copyright disputes, with some briefs supporting petitioner the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. (AWF) and others supporting neither party.
July 14, 2022
Panel Reinstates Bid To Collect On French Copyright Judgment

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge erred in rejecting efforts by the owner of a catalog of photographs of Pablo Picasso works to enforce a French monetary judgment obtained in a copyright infringement case, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled July 13.
July 13, 2022
Trial Court Erred In Copyright Standing, Trade Dress Analyses, Panel Says

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 12 said a Louisiana federal judge must revisit a copyright and trade dress infringement dispute over tableware designs.
July 13, 2022
California Federal Judge: Negligence Claim Over Mural Is Preempted

SAN FRANCISCO — Allegations of negligence by several artists whose mural outside a San Francisco bar was painted over by the building’s owners are preempted by federal copyright law, a federal judge in California ruled July 11.
July 12, 2022
Oft-Sanctioned Copyright Counsel Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees

RALEIGH, N.C. — In a July 11 order, a federal judge in North Carolina awarded a prevailing copyright infringement defendant $84,809 in attorney fees, to be paid by opposing counsel who failed to inform his client of three settlement offers.
July 12, 2022
YouTube Ordered To Comply With Discovery Requests In Copyright Infringement Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The same day he presided over a July 7 discovery hearing, a California federal judge resolved several discovery disputes in a minute order, larging granting motions to compel by a musician and others who sued YouTube LLC for copyright infringement and ordering the online video platform operator to submit documents related to its “Autoplay” feature, fair use policy and copyright management policies.
July 12, 2022
After Alphabet, YouTube Intervene, Copyright Row In California Tossed

OAKLAND, Calif. — Allegations of copyright infringement leveled against individuals who posted copies of an accidental livestream were dismissed July 11 by a federal judge in California, who said the livestream lacks creativity and is not the product of human authorship.
July 07, 2022
Copyright Claims By Pro Se Plaintiff Survive Motion To Dismiss

MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida on July 6 said that allegations of copyright infringement leveled over “banana-centric art” will proceed, rejecting a defendant’s assertion of no substantial similarity between the works.
July 06, 2022
Stay Denied In Dispute Over ‘Server Test,’ Use Of Goat Photograph

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — A defendant website operator won summary judgment July 5 when a Nevada federal judge agreed that under the “server test,” a plaintiff’s claims of copyright infringement leveled in connection with a photograph of an escaped goat fail.
July 06, 2022
3rd Circuit Vacates Relief, Orders Dismissal Of Copyright Claims

PHILADELPHIA — A copyright on a communication protocol used to control fireworks displays is invalid, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled June 29, vacating a Pennsylvania federal judge’s preliminary injunction in an infringement action.
June 29, 2022
Noninfringement, Expert Disqualification Argued In 6th Circuit Source Code Suit

CINCINNATI — In briefs filed June 8 and 9, the appellees in a copyright infringement suit over computer source code ask the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court’s noninfringement judgment and its disqualification of the appellant’s expert, arguing that the lower court properly employed the doctrines of merger and scènes à faire and correctly found that the appellant failed to comply with the court’s expert report deadlines.
June 29, 2022
Writer Asks High Court To Clarify Copyright Substantial Similarity Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Contending that the Paramount Pictures Corp. film “What Men Want” (WMW) infringed the copyright in his screenplay “What the F Is He Thinking?” (WTF), a screenwriter on May 31 filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to provide guidance on how courts should consider the arrangement of protected and unprotected elements when considering whether two works are substantially similar.
June 29, 2022
Judge Quashes Subpoena Requiring Twitter To Identify Anonymous Tweeter

OAKLAND, Calif. — A company seeking to compel Twitter Inc. to provide identifying information about an anonymous social network user failed to demonstrate that the user’s posting of six copyrighted photos as part of an apparent societal commentary did not constitute fair use, a California federal judge ruled June 21, concluding that the movant did not establish a prima facie case of copyright infringement sufficient to outweigh the Twitter user’s right to speak anonymously under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
June 27, 2022
Unfair Competition, DMCA Claims Tossed By Florida Federal Judge

TAMPA, Fla. — Allegations of federal unfair competition, common-law trademark infringement and violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act were dismissed without prejudice on June 23 by a Florida federal judge, who found that a plaintiff is unable to show that the state’s long-arm statute applies to a resident of Mexico.
June 27, 2022
High Court Shoots Down Cert Petition In Copyright Dispute Over Floor Plans

WASHINGTON, D.C. —The U.S. Supreme Court in its June 27 order list said it will not review the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ interpretation of the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA) in a loss for a group of real estate brokerage firms and agents.
June 22, 2022
7th Circuit Agrees: No Meaningful Difference In 2 Copyright Cases

CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 21 found no error in an Illinois federal judge’s determination that a plaintiff’s second copyright infringement lawsuit against Home Box Office Inc. is identical to a previously dismissed state law copyright case against the network and is thus barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion.
June 16, 2022
Warhol Foundation Asks High Court To Clarify Transformative Standard For Fair Use

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding that Andy Warhol’s “Prince Series” of pictures of the deceased musician infringed the original copyrighted photo on which the series was based reflects a “similarity” fair use standard, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. (AWF) tells the U.S. Supreme Court in its June 10 opening merits brief, asking the high court to affirm the long-held transformative standard for determining fair use.
June 16, 2022
Maryland Federal Judge Says E-Book Law Preempted By Copyright

BALTIMORE — A Maryland statute that would require publishers to offer libraries a license to e-books and audiobooks on “reasonable terms” that are also made available to the public is invalid, a federal judge in Maryland ruled June 13.
June 15, 2022
New York Federal Judge: Pic From Film Set Is A Derivative Work

NEW YORK — The managing member of the company that produced “Mafietta” was barred from seeking copyright protection for a photograph she took on the set of the film, when a federal judge in New York on June 13 instead ruled that the image belongs to the author of the novella upon which the film is based.
June 13, 2022
Zillow Tells 9th Circuit Infringing Photos Were A Single Compilation

SAN FRANCISCO — A trial court’s finding of willful copyright infringement and its issuance of a $1,927,200 damages award cannot stand, Zillow Group Inc. tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its May 31 opening appellant brief, in light of the requirement of Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC that a work be registered prior to initiating infringement litigation.
June 14, 2022
In Utah Federal Copyright Case, Claim-Splitting Doctrine Doesn’t Apply

SALT LAKE CITY — A motion to dismiss copyright infringement allegations on grounds of claim-splitting failed June 9, when a federal judge in Utah instead ruled the case should proceed.