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

Mealey's Copyright

December 15, 2023
Labels Ask 5th Circuit To Affirm $46M Award For ISP’s Contributory Infringement

NEW ORLEANS — An internet service provider’s (ISP) knowledge that its subscribers were engaging in online “mass infringement” of their copyrighted music, coupled with its failure to act on that knowledge, were more than sufficient to support a jury’s finding of contributory infringement and an accompanying damages award of $46 million, record labels argue in their appellee brief in the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
December 13, 2023
Authors Amend Copyright Claim Against Meta For Using Books To Train AI

SAN FRANCISCO — Three weeks after a California federal judge called their theory of copyright infringement “nonsensical,” 13 authors filed an amended putative class complaint against Meta Platforms Inc. dropping all claims except for a direct copyright infringement claim against Meta for using their copyrighted works to train its AI chatbots.
December 13, 2023
New York Federal Judge: Copyright, Trademark Claims Barred By Res Judicata

NEW YORK — Allegations by a plaintiff that a beekeeping supply company, its owners, operators and others infringed his copyrighted advertising text and made unauthorized references to his trademark while advertising a competing product were dismissed Dec. 12 by a federal judge in New York, who adopted a 2019 report and recommendation for the same by a New York federal magistrate judge.
December 13, 2023
Amici Back Coders’ Facial Challenge To DMCA’s Anti-Circumvention Provisions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In their second time before the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, this time appealing the dismissal of their facial challenge to the anti-circumvention and anti-trafficking provisions of Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), two software coders were supported by the filing of four amicus curiae briefs, including one by legal scholars, that are critical of the statute’s technological protection measures (TPMs).
December 11, 2023
Panel Upholds Win For Zillow On Copyright Claims By Photographer

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in Washington correctly dismissed allegations of copyright infringement leveled against Zillow Inc., the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Dec. 8, agreeing that a photographer failed to establish volitional conduct by the online real estate website.
December 11, 2023
Digitization Dispute Belongs In California, New York Federal Judge Concludes

NEW YORK — A group of copyright infringement defendants working to collect, digitize and upload 78 rpm phonographic records won transfer on Dec. 8 of the allegations against them from a federal court in New York to the Northern District of California.
December 07, 2023
Michigan Federal Judge Stands By Earlier Rejection Of Copyright Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A bid for reconsideration of a recent decision granting a copyright infringement defendant judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) was denied Dec. 6 by a federal judge in Michigan.
December 07, 2023
New Jersey Federal Magistrate Judge Denies ‘Vast Expansion’ Of Copyright Case

TRENTON, N.J. — A request to add more than 320 copyrighted works to existing copyright infringement litigation was largely denied Dec. 6 by a federal magistrate judge in New Jersey, who said the proposed amendments would be prejudicial.
December 01, 2023
AI Music Copyright Defendant Says Tennessee Jurisdiction Strikes Wrong Beat

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In a motion to dismiss, artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC told a federal court in Tennessee that a copyright suit was a “negotiating tactic disguised as a federal court complaint” with no connection to the jurisdiction and that at the very least, the action should be transferred to California, where almost all of the parties reside.
November 30, 2023
In California Copyright Case, Decision To Strike Expert Testimony Revisited

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in California on Nov. 29 said his recent decision to strike the expert testimony of a copyright damages expert witness was error, in a blow to infringement defendants that include The Walt Disney Co.
November 30, 2023
In GitHub AI Copyright Suit, Parties Told To Meet, Confer Not Move To Compel

SAN FRANCISCO — While a California federal court mulls a second round of motions from OpenAI Inc., GitHub Inc. and Microsoft Corp. seeking dismissal of claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) related to allegations of improper attribution in the development of an artificial intelligence tool, a magistrate judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion to compel discovery responses in favor of a directive for the parties to meet and confer about discovery disputes.
November 28, 2023
Music Publisher, Licensor Ask High Court To Reject Discovery Rule In Copyright Suits

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Section 507(b) of the Copyright Act does not provide for application of the discovery rule to permit claims for retrospective relief for copyright infringement that occurred more than three years prior to filing suit, a music publishing firm and a licensing company tell the U.S. Supreme Court in their Nov. 27 opening merits brief, asking the high court to overturn an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling allowing use of the discovery rule.
November 28, 2023
Biotech Company Can’t Shake Copyright Claim Over Dodo Bird Drawing

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal magistrate judge in Texas on Nov. 27 recommended that a company that has raised more than $150 million in its effort to bring the dodo back from extinction face allegations that it infringed an artist’s copyrighted rendering of the legendary flightless bird.
November 21, 2023
Music Publishers Seek To Enjoin ‘Blatant’ AI Copyright Violations

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Anthropic PBC built its artificial intelligence model and billion-dollar business on “blatant and widespread copyright infringement,” leading music publishers claim in a motion filed in a federal court in Tennessee seeking a preliminary injunction hoping to prevent “incalculable harm.”
November 21, 2023
Judge Dismisses ‘Nonsensical’ Copyright Claims For Meta’s Use Of Books To Train AI

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Nov. 20 granted a motion to dismiss the bulk of claims brought by authors in two related putative class actions against Meta Platforms Inc. for copyright infringement based on its use of their written works to train its artificial intelligence software, calling the plaintiffs’ “derivative works” argument “nonsensical.”
November 17, 2023
Record Labels To 2nd Circuit: Vimeo’s Cite Of ‘Stale’ Ruling Doesn’t Show Fair Use

NEW YORK — A 13-year-old “stale, unpublished” magistrate recommendation does not support the fair use defense of Vimeo Inc. in a copyright infringement dispute over the website operator’s hosting of infringing videos, a group of record labels tell the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, responding to Vimeo’s post-trial letter brief, which it filed at the appeals court’s direction.
November 15, 2023
Defense Bid For Summary Judgment Denied In ‘Squeezamals’ Copyright Case

NEW YORK — A copyright dispute over “Squeezamals” stuffed toys will proceed, a federal judge in New York concluded Nov. 14 in denying a motion for summary judgment by two defendants who say the plaintiff lacks ownership rights.
November 15, 2023
Jury Demand For Claim Seeking Disgorged Profits Stricken In Copyright Row

DAYTON, Ohio — A defendant has prevailed on a challenge to a plaintiff’s jury demand on its claim for profit-based copyright damages, with an Ohio federal judge agreeing that the relief requested is equitable in nature and must be stricken.
November 10, 2023
In IP Litigation Between Pharmacies, Both Sides Lose Daubert Challenges

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California has weighed in on competing motions to exclude expert testimony in a dispute over a compounding pharmacy’s alleged false advertising, unfair competition and copyright infringement, deeming the proposed experts for both sides “duly qualified” to render their opinions, which the judge said are based on “sufficiently reliable” methodologies.
November 09, 2023
Indiana Federal Judge Issues Injunction In Computer Code Theft Row

HAMMOND, Ind. — Allegations by Illinois Central Railroad Co. (IC) that a former employee stole its computer code and then attempted to copyright the code will proceed with a preliminary injunction in place, a federal judge in Indiana has ruled.
November 09, 2023
Illinois Federal Judge Denies Bid To Execute Infringement Judgment

CHICAGO — The owner of various copyrights and trademarks associated with the horror film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” which in December 2022 won a $200,000 default judgment in an infringement action, saw its motion to compel execution of that judgment denied Nov. 8 by a federal judge in Illinois, to whom the case was recently reassigned.
November 07, 2023
9th Circuit Endorses Fees As Sanction For Counsel In Copyright Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An attorney who pursued copyright infringement litigation on behalf of a copyright owner must pay more than $100,000 in attorney fees in connection with the case, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 6, affirming a California federal judge’s finding that the disputed works are “‘not remotely similar.’”
November 07, 2023
AI Company Urges Fair Use Protections, Says Copyright Law Doesn’t Need Overhaul

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Artificial intelligence company Anthropic PBC told the Copyright Office that the technology could add trillions of dollars in value to the economy but warned that a fragmented governance system would be costly and unreliable and the worst way to implement regulations.
November 03, 2023
Choreographer Wins Appeal Over Dismissed Copyright Claims Against Epic Games

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reinstated allegations of direct and contributory copyright infringement against the makers of Fortnite, concluding that — with regard to choreography — the selection and arrangement of otherwise unprotectable dance movements can rise to the level of protectable expression, just as they do in the context of musical works.
November 02, 2023
Judge Allows Some Copyright Claims Against AI Apps

SAN FRANCISCO — Where a cartoonist alleges that her protected works were scraped from the internet and used to train artificial intelligence, her copyright claims survive motions to dismiss, but the balance of the California unfair competition law (UCL) and other claims fail, a federal judge in the state said Oct. 30 in granting leave to amend a class action.