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Mealey's Copyright

September 21, 2023
False Copyright Notice Case Dismissed In Pennsylvania On Jurisdiction Grounds

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that allegations of intentional interference with prospective economic advantage against a record company that allegedly sent false copyright notices to Amazon.com and others will not proceed.
September 20, 2023
Trump, Eddy Grant Argue Infringement Of ‘Electric Avenue’ In Tweeted Video

NEW YORK — In competing summary judgment motions filed in New York federal court, former president Donald J. Trump and singer Eddy Grant dispute whether the inclusion of Grant’s song “Electric Avenue” in a campaign video posted to Trump’s Twitter account constituted fair use, with the parties also disagreeing as to whether the musician can maintain separate copyright infringement claims for the song’s composition and recording.
September 18, 2023
Government Urges High Court To Uphold ‘Bedrock Principle’ Of Chevron Deference

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. secretary of Commerce, two National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) (collectively, the government) urge the U.S. Supreme Court in a Sept. 15 brief to not overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference in a challenge to fishery regulations that were upheld by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, writing that doing so could “cause disruption” to complex federal regulatory schemes.
September 14, 2023
After Zillow Prevails In Copyright Case, Fee Award Partly Granted

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on Sept. 13 agreed with Zillow Inc. that a photographer’s allegations of copyright infringement were so deficient that they justify an award of attorney fees under federal copyright law.
September 13, 2023
D.C. Circuit: Publication Of Industry Standards Protected By Fair Use

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia correctly concluded that the noncommercial publication of industry standards for incorporation by reference into law cannot form the basis of a copyright infringement action, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Sept. 12.
September 13, 2023
Award-Winning Writers Sue AI Developers For Unfairly Using Copyrighted Books

SAN FRANCISCO — Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon, his wife and fellow author Ayelet Waldman and three other writers on Sept. 12 filed a putative class action in California federal court against Meta Platforms Inc. accusing it of copyright infringement and violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by integrating their copyrighted written works into a dataset it uses to train artificial intelligence software, days after they sued OpenAI for similar conduct.
September 12, 2023
In Copyright Dispute By Photog, Claim For Indirect, Unrealized Profits Stricken

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted an art gallery and its owner partial summary judgment on Sept. 11 on a photographer’s request for indirect and unrealized profits attributable to the alleged infringement of his picture by artist Richard Prince.
September 08, 2023
Injunction Entered In Florida Trademark, Copyright Dispute Over ‘Masha And The Bear’

MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida on Sept. 7 adopted in full a Florida federal magistrate judge’s recommendation that the owner of copyrights and trademarks associated with the hit children’s television show “Masha and the Bear” be awarded a preliminary injunction while it proceeds with an infringement action against myriad online counterfeiters.
September 08, 2023
Independent Publisher Beats Copyright Office On Appeal To D.C. Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Copyright Office’s demand that an independent publisher of rare and out-of-print books deposit physical copies of the books or face a fine represents an unconstitutional taking of property without compensation, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled.
September 07, 2023
9th Circuit: Pinterest Entitled To Safe Harbor On Copyright Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Because there is no dispute that algorithms and other processes employed by Pinterest for displaying content “alter user-uploaded content to facilitate access,” the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the rejection of copyright infringement claims by a graphic artist and photographer against the style and design sharing website.
September 05, 2023
5th Circuit: Copyright Claims By Architect Were Correctly Rejected

NEW ORLEANS — A real estate developer and others who prevailed on summary judgment in Texas federal copyright litigation prevailed again in an architect’s appeal of that ruling, with the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals holding that the parties’ contract granted the defendant an express, nonexclusive license to certain preliminary design schematics for a senior living facility.
August 31, 2023
Copyright Office Seeks Comments On Way Forward With Artificial Intelligence

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Copyright Office on Aug. 30 issued a notice of inquiry seeking comments related to artificial intelligence and whether legislative or regulatory steps are necessary.
August 29, 2023
AI Companies Say ‘Fair Use’ Protects Chatbot From Copyright Holders’ Class Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI Inc. and affiliated companies that developed the ChatGPT AI program on Aug. 28 moved to dismiss the bulk of two putative class actions filed against them by writers and copyright holders including comedian Sarah Silverman, arguing that the plaintiffs failed to plead copyright infringement as OpenAI never distributed “derivative works” and was allowed under “fair use” to train its chatbot with large datasets of text.
August 25, 2023
Contempt Findings In Oracle, Rimini Copyright Row Largely Upheld By 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 24 said that while a federal judge in Nevada committed no abuse of discretion in holding Rimini Street Inc. in contempt for its continued storage of Oracle USA Inc. files in its computer systems, the tech support company was wrongly enjoined from de minimis copying of Oracle source code and wrongly sanctioned for copying an Oracle database file it received from a customer.
August 23, 2023
Panel: Concealing Artwork Behind Barrier Neither ‘Modifies Nor Destroys’

NEW YORK — A visual artist’s complaint against a law school that concealed his murals depicting the abolitionist movement was properly rejected on summary judgment, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled in a case that it said “presents weighty concerns that pin an artist’s moral right to maintain the integrity of an artwork against a private entity’s control over the art in its possession.”
August 21, 2023
Judge: Copyright Requires A Human, Can’t Protect Artificial Intelligence Art

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A man found to have “put the cart before the horse” has appealed a holding by a District of Columbia federal judge that copyright law at its core historically requires a human creator and cannot protect art created by artificial intelligence (AI).
August 17, 2023
In Longstanding Copyright Row, Injunction Against Rimini Temporarily Stayed

LAS VEGAS — An emergency motion to stay an injunction pending the outcome of an appeal by Rimini Street Inc. to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has been denied by a federal judge in Nevada, but in the same order the judge agreed to temporarily administratively stay the relief she recently ordered until the appellate court resolves an as-yet unfiled Rimini motion for a stay.
August 16, 2023
DMCA, UCL Row Dispute Over Digital Street Scenery Dismissed In California

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Allegations by a technical artist that his former employer, an autonomous vehicle company, falsely represented to a third party that his digital urban scenery was a work for hire under federal copyright law have been dismissed by a California federal judge.
August 16, 2023
Amazon, Tolkien Estate Win Dismissal Of California Copyright Action

LOS ANGELES — Two groups of defendants accused of copyright infringement by the author of an unauthorized sequel to the J.R.R. Tolkien “The Lord of the Rings” series won dismissal of the allegations by a federal judge in California.
August 14, 2023
Panel: Completion Of Building Not Infringement Of Architect’s Copyright

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 11 upheld an Iowa federal judge’s determination that no actionable copyright infringement took place when the purchaser of an uncompleted building included in a Chapter 7 liquidation proceeding finished work on the structure without the permission of an architect.
August 14, 2023
7th Circuit Vacates, Remands Denial Of Fee Award In Copyright Case

CHICAGO — Findings by a federal judge in Illinois that an award of attorney fees in favor of a software licensee accused of infringement would not advance the purpose of federal copyright law “strays from our law,” the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 11 in vacating and remanding.
August 10, 2023
Apple Wins Transfer Of Copyright Case To New York Federal Court

SAN FRANCISCO — A romance author’s copyright lawsuit against Apple Inc. in connection with its distribution of an allegedly infringing e-book belongs in New York federal court, a federal judge in California ruled Aug. 9.
August 09, 2023
9th Circuit Denies Fees Requested By Prevailing Party In Copyright Case

SAN FRANCISCO — On the heels of a recent bankruptcy discharge, a film director will not be ordered to reimburse attorney fees an actress incurred in defending a favorable summary judgment in California federal court, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Aug. 8.
August 07, 2023
Copyright Row Over Ownership Of ‘Trump Tapes’ Sent To New York

PENSACOLA, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on Aug. 4 transferred a lawsuit by former President Donald J. Trump over copyright ownership of audio recordings made by journalist Bob Woodward to New York federal court.
August 01, 2023
Emergency TRO Entered In Trademark, Copyright Row Between Shein, Temu

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois said July 31 that Roadget Business Pte. Ltd., operator of the low-cost fashion and home goods website Shein.com, is likely to succeed on its contributory and vicarious trademark infringement and copyright infringement claims against the operators of the competing website Temu.com.