Tag Archives: copyright infringement

The US Supreme Court Decides Oracle v. Google—The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

Photo of Chad RutkowskiPhoto of Theresa WeisenbergerBy Chad Rutkowski and Theresa Weisenberger on Posted in Copyright Infringement
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a remarkable opinion in the long-running dispute between Oracle America and Google over Google’s copying of Oracle’s Java SE API for use on the Android platform. BakerHostetler has followed this case for quite some time, and our prior blog posts providing extensive background can be found here, here and here. … Continue Reading

Breaking Down the Briefing in Google v. Oracle: Respondent’s Brief

Photo of Theresa WeisenbergerBy Savannah Merceus and Theresa Weisenberger on Posted in Copyright Infringement
A decadelong dispute between Google and Oracle regarding Google’s alleged infringement of Oracle’s copyright in its application programming interface (API) will culminate in a Supreme Court decision that will have lasting effects on the copyrightability of software. This post, which summarizes Oracle’s opening brief, is the second installment in a series analyzing the briefing and … Continue Reading

Breaking Down the Briefing in Google v. Oracle: Petitioner’s Brief

Photo of Theresa WeisenbergerBy Theresa Weisenberger on Posted in Copyright Infringement
A decade-long dispute between Google and Oracle regarding Google’s alleged infringement of Oracle’s copyright in its application programming interface (API) will culminate in a Supreme Court decision that will have lasting effects on the copyrightability of software. This post, which summarizes Google’s opening brief, is the first in a series analyzing the briefing and issues … Continue Reading

Spanski Enterprises, Inc. v. Telewizja Polska, S.A.: How Far Is Too Far When It Comes to the Extraterritorial Reach of US Copyright Law?

By Robert Welsh on Posted in Copyright Infringement
As a general matter, acts of copyright infringement that occur outside the jurisdiction of the United States are not actionable under U.S. copyright law. “The Copyright Act, it has been observed time and again, does not apply extraterritorially.” Kirstaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 133 S.Ct. 1351, 1376 (2013) (Ginsburg, J. dissenting). The general … Continue Reading

Determining Fair Use Under the Copyright Act: Judge Versus Jury

By Robert Welsh on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Act
When the Supreme Court ruled in 1998 that copyright infringement lawsuits were subject to the Seventh Amendment’s right to jury trial, the natural consequence of that ruling was that fair use would likewise become a jury issue. However, at the time Congress enacted the Copyright Act’s fair use provision, 17 U.S.C. § 107, copyright infringement … Continue Reading

You Might Want to Turn Down for That: Lil Jon and DJ Snake Sued for Copyright Infringement

Photo of Lauren AttardBy Lauren Attard on Posted in Copyright, Music Industry
On May 4, 2017, Golden Crown Publishing, LLC, the publishing company behind Freddie GZ’s song Turn Down for What, sued Lil Jon and DJ Snake in the Southern District of New York, alleging that their hit song by the same name infringes on Golden Crown’s copyright. The plaintiff is seeking monetary damages and a permanent … Continue Reading

Is hyperlinking copyright infringement? EU vs. US

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
Over in Europe, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has been hyperactive in the area of hyperlinking and copyright, at least as compared with the United States. The CJEU issued a much-anticipated ruling in September concerning hyperlinking’s legality in GS Media v Sanoma Media Netherlands and Others (C-160/15). It held that posting … Continue Reading

A Darker Shade of Red Flags: Second Circuit Raises the DMCA Bar for Proving Internet Service Providers’ Knowledge of Copyright Infringement

Photo of Tatiana MarkelPhoto of Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr.By Tatiana Markel and Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr. on Posted in Copyright Infringement
In a significant across-the-board victory for internet service providers hosting user-generated content (UGC), on June 16, 2016, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued its much anticipated decision in Capitol Records, LLC v. Vimeo, LLC.  The ruling reaffirmed and clarified the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) safe harbor for hosting potentially infringing UGC when they … Continue Reading

A Circuit Split at Last: Ninth Circuit Recognizes De Minimis Exception to Copyright Infringement of Sound Recordings

Photo of Lesley GrossbergBy Lesley Grossberg on Posted in Copyright Infringement
For the past 10 years, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has stood alone in having addressed the issue of whether a de minimis amount of copying used in a song sample constitutes infringement of a copyrighted sound recording. While the Sixth Circuit’s admonition of “get a license or do not sample” has gained little … Continue Reading

“And if You Listen Very Hard” . . . Zeppelin Going to [Trial in] California

Photo of Tatiana MarkelBy Dominic Gentile and Tatiana Markel on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
Central District of California Judge Gary Klausner ruled the founders of rock band Led Zeppelin – and more particularly, front men Jimmy Page and Robert Plant – must face a jury trial to determine whether the band’s most famous song, “Stairway to Heaven,” infringed a copyright belonging to the band Spirit. In 2014, the trustee … Continue Reading

The Beastie Boys Fight for Their Rights and Win

Photo of Michelle UsitaloBy Michelle Usitalo on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Music Industry
On Wednesday Judge Alison J. Nathan of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York ordered record label TufAmerica, Inc. to pay the Beastie Boys (Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz, and Adam Yauch), Universal-Polygram International Publishing, Inc. and Capital Records LLC, $845,597.23 in attorneys’ fees and costs. TufAmerica brought suit in 2012 against … Continue Reading

Copyright Content & Platforms – This Week’s Odds & Ends

Photo of Oren J. WarshavskyBy Oren J. Warshavsky on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
Fear the Walking Dead. Popularity and piracy go hand in hand. The most tormented television shows are Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead. In many instances, episodes of those shows are available for illegal download before they air. This week, AMC took action by rolling out a new watermarking technology, which will not directly … Continue Reading

Russia’s Primary Social Network in Hot Water Again Over Failure to Police Infringement

Photo of Tatiana MarkelBy Tatiana Markel on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
Russia’s Facebook, vKontakte, is under fire for its allegedly poor handling of pervasive copyright infringement on its platform (literally translated from Russian, “v kontakte” means “in contact”). The Association for the Protection of Copyright on the Internet, or AZAPO, has sued vKontakte in Moscow City Court on behalf of author Zahar Prilepin for his book “Resident.” … Continue Reading

Timberlake & Will.I.Am Sued by Disco Artist’s Estate

Photo of Oren J. WarshavskyBy Oren J. Warshavsky on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Music Industry
In a new case that is sure to draw comparisons to the “Blurred Lines” lawsuit, Justin Timberlake and Will.I.Am have been hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit from the estate of a disco artist. The suit alleges that key portions of their pop hit “Damn Girl” were taken from the relatively obscure 1969 jazz song … Continue Reading

1 in 5,000: How John Doe Defeated Porn Producer Malibu Media

Photo of Oren J. WarshavskyPhoto of Tatiana MarkelBy Oren J. Warshavsky and Tatiana Markel on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
Litigation-friendly pornography producer Malibu Media has suffered a rare loss, which may spell trouble as it proceeds with more cases. According to the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Malibu Media has filed 5,207 copyright lawsuits in the past four years, only two of which have reached judgment. Malibu Media typically brings its cases as “John Doe” … Continue Reading

Buzzfeed Sued for Copyright Infringement

By Jessie Kuhn on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
News and entertainment website BuzzFeed, Inc., known for its quizzes and listicles, was hit with a copyright infringement lawsuit last week in California district court. Photographer Jennifer Rondinelli Reilly sued BuzzFeed and five unidentified (or “Doe”) defendants for allegedly displaying, reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works of her copyrighted photograph of guitarist Carlos Santana, taken … Continue Reading

Copyright, Content, and Platforms – This Week’s Odds and Ends

Photo of Oren J. WarshavskyBy Oren J. Warshavsky on Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement
Copyrights in Tattoos? Can tattoos be copyrighted? That will be the central question in a new lawsuit filed by Solid Oak Sketches, which brought a copyright infringement claim against Take Two Interactive. According to the lawsuit, Solid Oak owns the copyrights to many of the tattoos visible in the NBA 2K14, NBA 2K15, and NBA … Continue Reading

Artist Richard Prince Sued for Use of Photo from Instagram

By Maryanne Stanganelli on Posted in Uncategorized
It is not the first time artist Richard Prince has made headlines for appropriating others’ artwork into his own without attribution or license. But this time, he has done so in a way that may have implications on the use of photographs posted on social media. He is being sued on one of the 37 … Continue Reading
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