Mealey's Copyright
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June 24, 2019
Digital Music Reseller’s First-Sale Doctrine Petition Denied By Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 declined to consider a question over whether “used” digital music files can legally be resold under the Copyright Act’s first-sale doctrine, denying a petition for certiorari by digital music marketplace operator ReDigi Inc. (ReDigi Inc., et al. v. Capitol Records LLC, et al., No. 18-1430, U.S. Sup., 2019 U.S. LEXIS 4296).
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June 24, 2019
Ex-Franchisee Seeks Reconsideration After Tim Hortons Is Granted Injunction
MIAMI — A former franchisee on June 18 moved for a Florida federal court to reconsider its order a day earlier granting a motion for preliminary injunction that bars it from using Tim Hortons trademarks or service marks and from representing the restaurants as authorized Tim Hortons restaurants (Tim Hortons USA, Inc., States, et al. v. Tims Milner LLC, et al., No. 18-cv-24152, S.D. Fla.; 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100978).
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June 24, 2019
Supreme Court Will Decide Copyrightability For State Law Annotations
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its June 24 orders list, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to address the question of whether the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) is entitled to copyright protection (Georgia, et al. v. Public.Resource.Org Inc., No. 18-1150, U.S. Sup.).
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June 20, 2019
Jury Finds VidAngel’s Infringement Willful, Awards Studios $62.4 Million
LOS ANGELES — On the fifth and final day of oral arguments in the liability trial for VidAngel Inc. in California federal court, a jury on June 17 found that the online video-filtering service’s infringement of the plaintiff studios’ copyrighted works was willful, awarding the studios $61,425,000 related to copyright infringement (Disney Enterprises Inc., et al. v. VidAngel Inc., No. 2:16-cv-04109, C.D. Calif.).
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June 20, 2019
Challenge To Validity Of Copyright Agreement Tossed In Michigan
DETROIT — Efforts by the son of the author of the hit song “Mustang Sally” to invalidate his father’s grant of all interests in that work and others were unsuccessful June 19, when a Michigan federal judge found that the copyright case is time-barred (Duane Rice v. Music Royalty Consulting Inc., et al., No. 18-13517, E.D. Mich., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102469).
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June 19, 2019
On Remand, California Federal Judge Again Dismisses Copyright Case
SAN FRANCISCO — In a June 14 in-chambers order, a federal judge in California rejected allegations that the creators of the television show “Empire” committed copyright infringement, citing a plaintiff’s “repeated failures” to plausibly allege access by the defendants to the plaintiff’s copyrighted work (Jon Astor-White v. Daniel William Strong, et al., No. 15-6326, C.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 100247).
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June 18, 2019
Studios, VidAngel Debate Judgment As A Matter Of Law During Damages Trial
LOS ANGELES — Online video-filtering service VidAngel Inc. on June 17 opposed a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) that plaintiff movie studios filed in California federal court on day four of oral arguments in a damages trial related to copyright infringement and violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (Disney Enterprises Inc., et al. v. VidAngel Inc., No. 2:16-cv-04109, C.D. Calif.).
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June 12, 2019
Discovery Sanctions Granted In Suit Over Hong Kong Photos’ Copyrights, Trademarks
OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge on June 7 granted a motion for discovery sanctions to the widow of a photographer embroiled in a lawsuit over her husband’s works’ intellectual property rights, with the judge mostly adopting a magistrate’s report and recommendation related to the defendants’ ongoing failure to comply with their discovery obligations (Rita C. Ho v. Mark Pinsukanjana, et al., No. 4:17-cv-06520, N.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96274).
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June 10, 2019
Lithuanian Firm Sues Facebook, Princeton Over Virtual Reality Trade Secrets
SAN FRANCISCO — In a June 5 complaint in California federal court, a technology and research company in the Republic of Lithuania sued Facebook Inc. and Princeton University for purportedly misappropriating its trade secrets related to scene recognition technology and the area of virtual reality (UAB “Planner5D” v. Facebook Inc., et al., No. 3:19-cv-03132, N.D. Calif.).
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June 7, 2019
In Tennessee Trademark, Copyright Lawsuit, Dismissal Granted In Part
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a June 5 decision, a federal judge in Tennessee found that failure by a trademark and copyright infringement plaintiff to establish that a foreign company is the parent company of a domestic co-defendant compels dismissal of the foreign company from the action (TailGate Beer LLC v. Boulevard Brewing Company, et al., No. 18-563, M.D. Tenn., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 94271).
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June 7, 2019
7th Circuit Won’t Review Dismissal Of Copyright Case
CHICAGO — In a June 4 per curiam ruling, a panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that an appellant failed to timely appeal dismissal of her copyright infringement complaint and that an Illinois federal judge’s subsequent denial of her motion for leave to amend was not an abuse of discretion (Chloris Hall v. Author Solutions LLC, et al., No. 18-3520, 7th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 16763).
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June 5, 2019
9th Circuit Upholds Fees, Summary Judgment In Copyright Case
SAN FRANCISCO — In a June 4 opinion, a panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that a defendant accused of copyright infringement is entitled to an award of attorney fees, “even though” it prevailed “on a technical defense” (Gold Value International Textile Inc. v. Sanctuary Clothing LLC, No. 17-55818, 9th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 16675).
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June 3, 2019
Cert Granted In Dispute Over Constitutionality Of Copyright Statute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its orders list issued June 3, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to take on a challenge to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ July 2018 holding that the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act of 1990 (CRCA), 17 U.S.C. § 511, is unconstitutional (Frederick L. Allen, et al. v. Roy A. Cooper III, et al., No. 18-877, U.S. Sup.).
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May 31, 2019
In Lanham Act, Copyright Dispute Over ‘Narcos,’ Dismissal Partly Granted
MIAMI — Allegations of copyright infringement by a journalist who authored a memoir of her relationship with the drug lord Pablo Escobar were largely dismissed without prejudice on May 24 by a Florida federal judge (Virginia Vallejo v. Narcos Productions LLC, et al., No. 18-23462, S.D. Fla., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89008).
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May 30, 2019
Trademark Claim Survives, But Copyright Preemption Bars Unjust Enrichment Claim
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge on May 28 found that allegations by Vanderbilt University that a professor at the school, along with Scholastic Inc., infringed the “Vanderbilt” trademark may proceed (Vanderbilt University v. Scholastic Inc., et al., No. 18-46, M.D. Tenn., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 89065).
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May 28, 2019
Georgia To Supreme Court: Government Edicts Doctrine Application Merits Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Clarifying its position that the law cannot be copyrighted, the state of Georgia in a May 24 reply brief supporting its petition for certiorari asks the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether annotations accompanying the law, which in themselves lack the force of law, can be copyrighted (Georgia, et al. v. Public.Resource.Org Inc., No. 18-1150, U.S. Sup.).
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May 28, 2019
Copyright, Trademark Claims Levied Against BBC Dismissed In New York
NEW YORK — Allegations that the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) and three of its employees violated a pro se plaintiff’s copyrights and trademarks when it used his music in a documentary and then credited him by his stage name were rejected May 23 by a New York federal judge (Juan Pablo Chavez v. British Broadcasting Corporation, et al., No. 17-9572, S.D. N.Y., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 87926).
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May 23, 2019
In Dispute Over Schlafly Intellectual Property, Panel Upholds Denial Of Relief
ST. LOUIS — In a May 22 holding, the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed an appeal of an order staying trademark litigation for lack of appellate jurisdiction and affirmed a Missouri federal judge’s denial of preliminary injunctive relief, in a dispute over the copyrights and trademarks associated with the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly (Phyllis Schlafly Revocable Trust, et al. v. Anne Cori, et al., No. 17-2115, 8th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 15123).
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May 22, 2019
11th Circuit Affirms: No Punitive Damages In Copyright Case
ATLANTA — A Florida federal judge did not abuse his discretion in finding that copyright infringement claims raised by a ministry against a YouTube critic were filed not in malice, but in a good faith belief that infringement had occurred, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled May 20 (Shirley Johnson v. New Destiny Christian Center Church Inc., et al., No. 18-13940, 11th Cir., 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 14842).
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May 20, 2019
Reddit Must Identify Doe Jehovah’s Witness Poster For ‘Attorney’s Eyes Only’
SAN FRANCISCO — Granting in part a motion to quash a subpoena to identify an anonymous poster to a Jehovah’s Witness-themed online forum, a California federal magistrate judge on May 17 ordered that the John Doe’s identity be revealed only to counsel so as to protect the poster’s free speech concerns, while still allowing a church-related organization to pursue copyright infringement claims over two of Doe’s posts (In re DMCA Subpoena to Reddit Inc., No. 3:19-mc-80005, N.D. Calif.).