Mealey's Copyright
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October 30, 2020
Musicians Appeal Reversal Of Katy Perry Copyright Judgment To 9th Circuit
SAN FRANCISCO — The writers of a Christian rap song who initially prevailed in a copyright infringement suit against pop singer Katy Perry, tell the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an Oct. 13 appellant brief that a trial court judge wrongly relied on inadmissible evidence and an improper substantial similarity standard in vacating a $2.9 million judgment in their favor (Marcus Gray, et al. v. Kathryn Elizabeth Hudson, et al., No. 20-55401, 9th Cir.).
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October 29, 2020
11th Circuit Upholds Dismissal Of Copyright Claims Against ‘Narcos’
ATLANTA — In an Oct. 27 holding, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found no error in a Florida federal judge’s rejection of allegations by the author of a memoir about her relationship with the drug lord Pablo Escobar that a popular television show copied portions of her work (Virginia Vallejo v. Narcos Productions LLC, et al., No. 19-14894, 11th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 33809).
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October 27, 2020
Ex Parte TRO Request In Copyright, Trademark Case Denied In Michigan
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on Oct. 22 cleared the way for two copyright and trademark infringement plaintiffs to serve a copy of their complaint via email to defendants purportedly located in Pakistan (Versah LLC, et al. v. Ul Amin Industries, et al., No. 20-12657, E.D. Mich., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 195922).
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October 27, 2020
Dismissal Of Copyright Dispute Over ‘USA Sumo Open’ Affirmed By Panel
SAN FRANCISCO — In an Oct. 21 holding, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found no error in a California federal judge’s dismissal, on jurisdiction grounds, of allegations that an appellee infringed the copyright for the USA Sumo Open when it rebroadcast portions of the event throughout Japan (Superama Corporation Inc. v. Tokyo Broadcasting System Television Inc., No. 19-55981, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 33221).
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October 21, 2020
Refusal To Vacate Default In Copyright Case Affirmed By 10th Circuit
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an Oct. 15 order upheld an Oklahoma federal judge’s denial of a copyright infringement defendant’s motion for relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(6) (Christ Center of Divine Philosophy Inc. v. Ellen Veronica Elam, No. 19-6186, 10th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 32533).
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October 21, 2020
New York Federal Judge: American Flag Design Is Sufficiently Original
NEW YORK — A defendant’s motion to dismiss allegations of copyright infringement leveled in connection with an image of the American flag was denied Oct. 16 by a federal judge in New York, who found that the plaintiff’s design might merit copyright protection (NYC Image International Inc. v. RS USA Inc., No. 19-10355, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 193016).
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October 20, 2020
COMMENTARY: Conducting A Civil Jury Trial In COVID-19 Times
By John P. Katerndahl
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October 06, 2020
COMMENTARY: Attorney's Fees In Intellectual Property Litigation: Obtaining And Maintaining 'Prevailing Party' Status
By Lauren Bolcar and Scott Pivnick
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October 15, 2020
New Hampshire Federal Judge Won’t Strike New Expert Report In Copyright Row
CONCORD, N.H. — A request by a prevailing copyright infringement plaintiff to strike various portions of a defendant’s expert report on damages was denied Oct. 14 by a federal judge in New Hampshire (D’Pergo Custom Guitars Inc. v. Sweetwater Sound Inc., No. 17-747, D. N.H., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189935).
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October 15, 2020
Sealed Rehearing Bid In Copyright Preemption Row Denied By 9th Circuit
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 28 denied panel rehearing and rehearing en banc of findings issued in August that Oracle America Inc.’s allegations that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) are preempted by federal copyright law (Oracle America Inc. v. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, No. 19-15506, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 30835).
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October 14, 2020
Arizona Federal Judge Again Denies Dismissal In Porn.com Copyright Row
PHOENIX — An individual defendant must face allegations of copyright infringement leveled in connection with his role as president of a company that helped operate the website Porn.com, a federal judge in Arizona ruled Oct. 9 (AMA Multimedia LLC v. Sagan Limited, et al., No. 16-1269, D. Ariz., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 188394).
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October 07, 2020
Google, Oracle Square Off Before High Court In Java Copyright Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a decade-old copyright dispute over the Java 2 Standard Edition Platform (Java SE), an attorney for Oracle America Inc. in telephonic oral arguments on Oct. 7 stressed to the U.S. Supreme Court that "code is code" (Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., No. 18-956, U.S. Sup.).
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October 06, 2020
Copyright Row Between Steinbeck Heirs Turned Away By Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A dispute over collateral estoppel and the rights of heirs to terminate copyright licenses under the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 (CTEA) will not be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court, which on Oct. 5 denied certiorari as requested by the estate of author John Steinbeck's son (The Estate of Thomas Steinbeck, et al. v. Waverly Scott Kaffaga, No. 19-1181, U.S. Sup.).
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October 06, 2020
Supreme Court Denies Cert In 'Stairway To Heaven' Copyright Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Oct. 5 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court revealed it will let stand findings by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the Led Zeppelin classic song "Stairway To Heaven" does not infringe a copyrighted song by the band Spirit (Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, et al., No. 20-142, U.S. Sup.).
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October 01, 2020
Advertising Firm Appeals Pepsi Ad Copyright Ruling To 2nd Circuit
NEW YORK — Arguing that PepsiCo. Inc. did not abide by the provisions of an agency services agreement, a Connecticut advertising agency tells the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its Sept. 11 appellant brief that a trial court erred in finding no substantial similarity between an ad that it pitched to the soft drink firm and television advertisements company ended up airing (Betty Inc. v. PepsiCo Inc., No. 20-891, 2nd Cir.).
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October 01, 2020
Panel Upholds Dismissal Of Pro Se Lanham Act, Copyright Claims
ATLANTA — In a Sept. 30 unpublished opinion, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Georgia federal judge's rejection of allegations that several appellees filed fraudulent trademark infringement notices and misrepresented the nature of a trademark injunction in their dispute with a former distributor (Steven Mandala v. Tire Stickers LLC, et al., No. 19-14416, 11th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 31016).
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September 28, 2020
Experts Allowed In Video Game Copyright Case Over Pro Wrestler's Tattoos
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — Two expert witnesses for a woman alleging copyright infringement by the makers of professional wrestling video games for reproducing the tattoos she inked on one wrestler withstood challenges to their opinions on video game design and damages when an Illinois federal judge on Sept. 26 denied motions to exclude the experts' testimony from trial (Catherine Alexander v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., No. 18-966, S.D. Ill., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 177131).
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September 24, 2020
6th Circuit Upholds Jury Verdict In Training Manual Copyright Row
CINCINNATI — A federal judge in Tennessee did not err in instructing jurors that where use of "unauthorized preexisting material pervades the entire work . . . copyright protection may not be granted," the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 23 (Hiller LLC v. Success Group International Learning Alliance LLC, et al., No. 19-6115, 6th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 30396).
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September 24, 2020
On Remand, Plaintiff Prevails In 'Cathy's Clown' Copyright Row
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge on Sept. 22 deemed three defendants asserting co-authorship rights in the Everly Brothers' song "Cathy's Clown" "aggressors" in the case, in that they "clearly seek affirmative relief" and assert grounds that "effectively mirror their defense" to a plaintiff's declaratory judgment action with regard to the validity of a termination notice (Isaac Donald Everly v. Patrice Everly, et al., No. 17-1440, M.D. Tenn., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 173698).
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September 22, 2020
Professional Photographer Prevails In New York Copyright Case Against Designer
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 18 awarded a professional photographer partial summary judgment on his copyright claim leveled in connection with the display by Elie Tahari Ltd. of his picture of model Linh Niller on social media without his consent (Mark Iantosca v. Elie Tahari, Ltd., No. 19-4527, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 171512).