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Mealey's Copyright

  • September 18, 2020

    Software Firm Seeks Extension To Respond To All Writs Act Petition

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-running dispute over copyright infringement and software licensing between a British and an American company, the American firm on Sept. 16 filed a motion in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking a 60-day extension of its deadline to respond to a petition for certiorari concerning the authority of U.S. courts to enforce monetary judgments against foreign companies under the All Writs Act (AWA) (World Programming Limited v. SAS Institute Inc., No. 20-304, U.S. Sup.).

  • September 18, 2020

    High Court Wants Brief From Disney To Petition Over Characters' Copyrightability

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  — A month after The Walt Disney Co. waived its right to respond to a petition for certiorari in a case where both a trial court and an appeals court found that Disney's movie "Inside Out" did not infringe characters created by a child development expert, the U.S. Supreme Court on Sept. 16 requested a response from the company to address questions about the proper copyright standard for fictional characters (The Moodsters Co. v. The Walt Disney Co., et al., No. 20-132, U.S. Sup.).

  • September 17, 2020

    3rd Circuit Upholds Denial Of Fee Request In Copyright Row

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16  found that it need not answer the question of whether the voluntary dismissal of copyright infringement claims renders a defendant a "prevailing party" for purposes of an award of attorney fees because a New Jersey federal judge correctly deemed the defendant unentitled to such an award (Morning Sun Books Inc. v. Uncle Dave's Brass Model Trains, No. 18-3510, 3rd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 29448).

  • September 16, 2020

    Oracle Prevails In Longstanding Copyright Row With Rimini Street

    LAS VEGAS — In a 94-page order issued Sept. 14, a federal judge in Nevada — in response to seven separate motions for partial summary judgment — ruled in favor of software maker and copyright infringement counterclaimant Oracle Corp., rejecting various defenses raised by a plaintiff seeking a declaration of noninfringement (Rimini Street Inc. v. Oracle Corp., No. 14-1699, D. Nev., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 168222).

  • September 16, 2020

    DISH Wins Dismissal Of Illinois Federal Copyright Claims

    CHICAGO — A copyright dispute over the retransmission of local television stations to DISH Network subscribers was dismissed Sept. 14 by a federal judge in Illinois, who found that DISH had consent to continue airing footage from 13 Cox Enterprises television stations (Terrier Media Buyer Inc. v. DISH Network, No. 20-583, N.D. Ill., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 167540).

  • September 15, 2020

    Fee Request By Retailer Accused Of Copyright Infringement Denied

    SAN FRANCISCO — Several months after reversing and remanding a final judgment of willful infringement in a dispute over a copyrighted textile design, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 14 denied a request by the defendant for reimbursement of attorney fees it incurred in the successful appeal (Unicolors Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz L.P., Nos. 18-56253, 56548, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 29135).

  • September 15, 2020

    HuffPost's Posting Of Jon Hamm Photo Found To Be Fair Use By Federal Judge

    NEW YORK — The context, alteration and use of a photograph of actor Jon Hamm by the website HuffPost constituted fair use, a New York federal judge ruled Sept. 10, dismissing a photographer's copyright complaint against HuffPost owner Oath Inc. (Lawrence Schwartzwald v. Oath Inc., No. 19-9938, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 165641).

  • September 14, 2020

    6th Circuit Upholds Denial Of JMOL On Trademark Claim

    CINCINNATI — In a wide-ranging ruling issued Sept. 10, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a Michigan federal judge's denial of a copyright and trademark defendant's motion for a new trial while also affirming the judge's determination that the plaintiff in the case is not entitled to judgment as a matter of law with regard to its "CATIA" trademark (Dassault Systèmes, SA v. Keith Childress, Nos. 17-2175, -2239, -2416, 6th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 28941).

  • September 04, 2020

    Panel: 17200 Claim Against HP Preempted By Copyright Act

    SAN FRANCISCO — In an opinion and separate memorandum disposition both issued Aug. 20, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals partly upheld a grant of summary judgment in favor of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE), accused of copyright infringement and unfair competition in connection with its software patch and technical support for Oracle America Inc.'s "Solaris" software (Oracle America Inc. v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, No. 19-15506, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26457, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26508).

  • September 03, 2020

    Eddy Grant Sues Trump For Infringing, Tweeted Use Of 'Electric Avenue'

    NEW YORK — Musician Edmond Grant, professionally known as Eddy Grant, sued President Donald J. Trump and his campaign in New York federal court on Sept. 1, claiming that the president's recent use of his 1983 hit song "Electric Avenue" in a campaign video that was posted on his Twitter account constituted copyright infringement (Edmond Grant, et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al., No. 20-7103, S.D. N.Y.).

  • September 03, 2020

    6th Circuit Says Copyright Infringed, Trade Secret Injunction Proper

    CINCINNATI — In an Aug. 21 ruling, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals left intact a final judgment that copyrighted database-script source code was infringed by Carrier Corp. in its effort to develop heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) testing software (ECIMOS LLC v. Carrier Corporation, Nos. 19-5436, -5519, 6th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26722).

  • August 24, 2020

    Right Of Publicity Claim Is Preempted By Copyright Act, 2nd Circuit Says

    NEW YORK — A dispute between hip-hop recording artists Curtis James Jackson III ("50 Cent") and William Leonard Roberts II ("Rick Ross") over a sample from Jackson's song "In Da Club" was properly resolved in Roberts' favor by a Connecticut federal judge on summary judgment, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 19 (Curtis James Jackson III v. William Leonard Roberts II, No. 19-480, 2nd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26264).

  • August 19, 2020

    Divided Panel: Website, Domain Registration Not 'Express Aiming'

    SAN FRANCISCO — Dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction in a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit over the "ePorner" website was affirmed Aug. 17 by a deeply divided Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in a holding that spawned two concurrences and a dissent (AMA Multimedia LLC v. Marcin Wanat, No. 18-15051, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 26140).

  • August 18, 2020

    Videogame, Star Trek Series Not Substantially Similar, Panel Rules

    NEW YORK — In an Aug. 17 holding, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed findings by a New York federal judge that allegations of copyright infringement against CBS Broadcasting Inc., producer of "Star Trek: Discovery" fail as a matter of law (Anas Osama Ibrahim Abdin v. CBS Broadcasting Inc., et al., No. 19-3160, 2nd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25956).

  • August 17, 2020

    2nd Circuit Affirms Judgment Against BuzzFeed For Posting Photo Without Credits

    NEW YORK — A photographer was not required to show that BuzzFeed Inc. knew that its posting of his picture without proper copyright management information (CMI) would result in future third-party infringement to succeed on his Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claim against the website operator, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Aug. 13, upholding a judgment and an award in the photographer's favor (Gregory Mango v. BuzzFeed Inc., No. 19-0446, 2nd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25674).

  • August 17, 2020

    Panel Partly Upholds Denial Of Relief In Trade Secret, Copyright Row

    ST. LOUIS — Although agreeing with a Minnesota federal judge that claims of copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation involving payroll source code do not warrant preliminary injunctive relief, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 14 vacated the district court's order in part, with instructions to consider "in the first instance" allegations that the software was wrongfully sublicensed (MPAY Inc. v. Erie Custom Computer Applications Inc., et al., No. 19-2206, 8th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25816).

  • August 14, 2020

    Supreme Court Petition Filed In 'Stairway To Heaven' Copyright Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In finding that Led Zeppelin's classic song "Stairway To Heaven" did not infringe a song by the band Spirit, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in limiting the scope of the Copyright Act of 1909 to just sheet music, a trustee for the original songwriter argues in an Aug. 6 petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that he says will affect "the future of music copyright law" (Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, et al., No. 20-142, U.S. Sup.).

  • August 14, 2020

    9th Circuit: Similarity Properly Assessed At Motion To Dismiss Stage

    SAN FRANCISCO — In an Aug. 3 holding, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a California federal judge's rejection of allegations The Walt Disney Co. infringed an author's copyright with the film "Inside Out" (Carla Masterson v. The Walt Disney Co., No. 19-55650, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24394).

  • August 14, 2020

    Panel Upholds Dismissal In Dispute Over Copyright Management Info

    NEW YORK — In an Aug. 4 holding, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a New York federal judge's determination that copyright management information (CMI) was not removed from a plaintiff's advertising materials, compelling dismissal of an infringement lawsuit (James H. Fischer v. Stephen T. Forrest Jr., et al., No. 18-2959, 2nd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 24491).

  • August 13, 2020

    10th Circuit: Similarities Lacking Between Competing Personal Organizers

    DENVER — In an Aug. 11 holding, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a Utah federal judge's grant of summary judgment in favor of two defendants accused of infringing the popular "LifePlanner" personal organizer, finding that "no reasonable juror could conclude" that a competing organizer is substantially similar (EC Design LLC v. Craft Smith LLC, et al., No. 19-4087, 10th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 25342).