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Mealey's Copyright

  • April 03, 2020

    Virtual Reality Firm Files New Copyright Suit Against Facebook, Princeton

    SAN FRANCISCO — After its previous copyright infringement claim against Facebook Inc. and Princeton University was dismissed for failing to plead compliance with, or exemption from, the Copyright Act’s registration requirement, a Lithuanian firm on March 31 filed a new lawsuit against the same defendants in California federal court, realleging its claim that its now-registered collection of 3D objects was copied (UAB “Planner5D” v. Facebook Inc., et al., No. 3:20-cv-02198, N.D. Calif.).

  • April 02, 2020

    En Banc, Divided 9th Circuit: ‘Stairway To Heaven’ Does Not Infringe Copyright

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a March 9 holding, a majority of the en banc Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected the inverse ratio rule for establishing substantial similarity between copyrighted works, overruling its own precedent in a win for Led Zeppelin (Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, et al., Nos. 16-56057, 16-56287, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 7585).

  • April 01, 2020

    Judge: Company Pleaded Existence Of Trade Secrets Under State, Federal Law

    SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on March 30 ruled that a medical imaging systems manufacturer and two of its subsidiaries have sufficiently stated their claims for trade secret misappropriation in violation of state and federal law because they have properly pleaded that certain software and systems they manufacture for their ultrasound hardware devices are trade secrets (Philips North America LLC v. Summit Imaging Inc., et al., No. 19-1745, W.D. Wash., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 55073).

  • April 01, 2020

    Fee Award Warranted, Amount Proper, Panel Rules In Copyright Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 30 affirmed an award of $42,901 in a dispute over two musical works, rejecting competing challenges by a copyright infringement plaintiff and defendant (Alisa Apps v. Universal Music Group Inc., No. 18-15987, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 9827).

  • March 30, 2020

    Niantic Defends Damages, Fees Claims For Pokémon GO, Ingress Infringement

    OAKLAND, Calif. — In a lawsuit in which it alleges copyright infringement and computer fraud by a purported group of hackers, Niantic Inc. filed a brief in California federal court on March 26, opposing the defendants’ motion to dismiss the video game maker’s requests for statutory damages and attorney fees related to two of the three games at issue in the lawsuit (Niantic Inc. v. Global++, et al., No. 4:19-cv-03425, N.D. Calif.).

  • March 25, 2020

    In Copyright Dispute Over School Choir Performance, Panel Says Fees Warranted

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge’s determination that the vocal music director at Burbank High School and others are not liable for copyright infringement in connection with their use of sheet music in a show choir performance was affirmed March 24 by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on grounds of fair use and lack of standing (Tresóna Multimedia, LLC v. Brett Carroll, et al., Nos. 17-56006 -56417 -56419, 9th Cir., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186059).

  • March 23, 2020

    High Court Concludes Congress Overstepped With Copyright Statute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled March 23 that a 1990 statute that abrogated sovereign immunity for states accused of copyright infringement fails (Frederick L. Allen, et al. v. Roy A. Cooper III, et al., No. 18-877, U.S. Sup.).

  • March 20, 2020

    In New York Copyright Case, Magistrate OKs Contributory Infringement Claims

    NEW YORK — An artist won the right to amend her complaint on March 19, when a New York federal magistrate judge approved the addition of two defendants accused of contributory copyright infringement (Annamarie Trombetta v. Marie Novocin, et al., No. 18-993, S.D. N.Y., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47816).

  • March 17, 2020

    9th Circuit Affirms: Appellant’s Fictional Characters Not Protectable

    SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 16 upheld dismissal by a California federal judge of allegations that the Walt Disney Co. movie “Inside Out” is a copyright infringement (Denise Daniels v. The Walt Disney Company, et al., No. 18-55635, 9th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 8238).

  • March 17, 2020

    1st Circuit Sides With Copyright Defendant, Says Sublicense ‘Indisputable’

    BOSTON — In what it deemed a case of first impression, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 13 concluded that copyright licensees who are given the unrestricted right to grant sublicenses “may do so without using express language” (Photographic Illustrators Corp. v. Orgill Inc., No. 19-1452, 1st Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 8099).

  • March 13, 2020

    Google Insists Java Code Use Was Fair Use In Supreme Court Copyright Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — With oral arguments approaching in its long-running copyright infringement dispute with Oracle America Inc. over its use of certain Java code elements, Google LLC filed a reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on March 11, maintaining that its utilization of Java interfaces was permissible fair use under the Copyright Act (Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., No. 18-956, U.S. Sup.).

  • March 13, 2020

    Rimini Defends Attorney-Client Privilege In Post-Injunction Discovery To Oracle

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal magistrate judge correctly found that certain technical documents that it declined to produce in post-injunction discovery to Oracle USA Inc. were protected by attorney-client privilege, Rimini Street Inc. says in a Feb. 26 brief, arguing that the communications with its counsel were for the purpose of ensuring that it did not violate the injunction in the decade-old software copyright infringement suit (Oracle USA Inc., et al. v. Rimini Street Inc., et al., No. 2:10-cv-00106, D. Nev.).

  • March 09, 2020

    Certiorari Denied In Copyright Dispute Over Fabric Designs

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its March 9 orders list, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not review a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that declared invalid various design copyrights on the basis of inaccuracies in the underlying copyright applications (Gold Value International Textile Inc. v. Sanctuary Clothing LLC, et al., No. 19-708, U.S. Sup.).

  • March 06, 2020

    Judge Won’t Quash Discovery Of Doe’s Identity In File-Sharing Copyright Suit

    GREENBELT, Md. — A John Doe defendant who is accused of sharing copyrighted adult films online cannot escape a subpoena that will provide his identity to the plaintiff movie studio, a Maryland federal judge ruled Feb. 25, finding no expectation of privacy in the requested information and denying the plaintiff’s motion to quash the subpoena (Strike 3 Holdings LLC v. John Doe, No. 3:19-cv-00396, D. Md.).

  • March 05, 2020

    Judge Finds 37 Of University’s 48 Textbook Excerpt Postings Constituted Fair Use

    ATLANTA — In her third ruling in a 12-year old, twice-remanded copyright dispute over the online posting of textbook passages by Georgia State University (GSU) professors, a Georgia federal judge on March 2 issued a detailed, 241-page ruling in which she considered the Copyright Act’s four fair use factors for each of the 48 alleged incidents of infringement, concluding that 37 of them were noninfringing fair use (Cambridge University Press, et al. v. Georgia State University, et al., No. 1:08-cv-01425, N.D. Ga., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35134).

  • March 04, 2020

    Subpoena To Unmask Jehovah’s Witness Reddit User Over Copyright Issues Quashed

    SAN FRANCISCO — The identity of an anonymous Jehovah’s Witness user of Reddit Inc. can remain unknown, a California federal judge ruled March 2, finding that his posting of two purportedly copyrighted items constituted fair use in the form of criticism and commentary, leading the judge to grant the user’s motion to quash a subpoena to identify him for the purpose of pursuing copyright infringement claims (In re DMCA Subpoena to Reddit Inc., No. 3:19-mc-80005, N.D. Calif.).

  • March 02, 2020

    United States To Argue For Oracle In High Court Case Over Google’s Code Copying

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its March 2 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a motion by the United States to participate in March 24 oral arguments as amicus curiae on behalf of respondent Oracle America Inc. in its dispute with Google LLC over whether the copying of Java computer code for use in the Android operating system (OS) constituted fair use under the Copyright Act (Google LLC v. Oracle America Inc., No. 18-956, U.S. Sup.).

  • February 28, 2020

    Zillow, Photo Studio Debate Copyright Registration, Compilation Requirements

    SEATTLE — In supplemental remand briefing in a dispute over online use of real estate photos, Zillow Group Inc. on Feb. 14 filed a reply in Washington federal court, defending its motion seeking judgment as a matter of law on an infringement ruling against it in light of an intervening U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires a copyright registration prior to the filing of an infringement lawsuit (VHT Inc. v. Zillow Group Inc., et al., No. 2:15-cv-01096, W.D. Wash.).

  • February 27, 2020

    Judge Awards $3.6M To Home Services Franchisor In Trademark, Copyright Dispute

    WACO, Texas — A federal judge in Texas on Feb. 19 awarded $3.6 million to a franchise company of home services brands and one of its subsidiaries in their trademark and copyright dispute with an employment company (ProTradeNet LLC v. Predictive Profiles, Inc., c/w Predictive Profiles, Inc. v. ProTradeNet LLC, et al., No. 18-38, W.D. Texas).

  • February 24, 2020

    Panel Affirms VARA Violation Findings, Enhanced Damages Award

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 20 upheld a New York federal judge’s determination that temporary artwork may achieve recognized stature so as to be protected from destruction by the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) and that appellants who whitewashed 45 aerosol artworks willfully violated the statute (Maria Castillo, et al. v. G&M Realty L.P., et al., No. 18-538, 2nd Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 5228).