Tag Archives: copyright

DOJ Appeals Decision Affecting Music Licensing

By Lauren Attard on November 22, 2016 Posted in Copyright

Lost in the news of the election, on Nov. 11, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of appeal from an adverse decision issued by Judge Louis Stanton, who rejected a DOJ interpretation that licensees applauded and ASCAP, BMI, songwriters and publishers opposed. ASCAP and BMI collect and distribute payments to their members – … Continue Reading

Is hyperlinking copyright infringement? EU vs. US

By Maryanne Stanganelli on October 31, 2016 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

Not Dat Function, Dis Function

By Chad Rutkowski on October 5, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Copyright Act, Patents

When we talk these days about the role of functionality in determining the copyrightability of a useful article, we are generally talking about the 10 different separability tests currently duking it out at the Supreme Court in the Varsity Brands case. Our posts on that case are here, here and here. These tests enforce … Continue Reading

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

By Lesley Grossberg on June 21, 2016 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

Supreme Court Clarifies Test for Fee-Shifting in Copyright Cases

By C. Dennis Loomis and Kevin Bovard on June 20, 2016 Posted in Copyright

The Supreme Court on June 16 issued a unanimous ruling clarifying the test for awarding attorneys’ fees to successful copyright litigants. The decision, in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., is sure to have lasting impact on how both plaintiffs and defendants weigh the risk of litigating a copyright case to completion. BACKGROUND The … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Clarifies Test for Fee-Shifting in Copyright Cases

By Kevin Bovard and C. Dennis Loomis on June 20, 2016 Posted in Copyright

Oracle v. Google: Are Juries Equipped To Decide Fair Use?

By Robert Welsh on June 15, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Fair Use

If you’re in the high-tech industry and are sued for copyright infringement, there are two words you need to remember (in addition to the phone number of your attorney, of course). Those two words are “fair use.” This week, we were once again reminded of the increasing willingness of courts – and now juries – … Continue Reading

Is Paramount Going Where No Copyright Holder Has Gone Before?

By Robert Welsh on May 12, 2016 Posted in Copyright

Hollywood is often referred to as the land of make-believe. A federal lawsuit working its way through a Los Angeles federal court may decide the extent to which what Hollywood “dreams up” for its motion pictures and television shows is entitled to copyright protection. The case is Paramount Pictures Corp. v. Axanar Productions Inc., et … Continue Reading

How Will the Supreme Court Function With the Varsity Brands Test?

By Chad Rutkowski and Robert Welsh on May 6, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Copyright Act, Copyright Protection

On Monday, the Supreme Court announced it had agreed to review the Sixth Circuit’s copyright decision in Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands, which involves the issue of whether certain designs appearing on cheerleading uniforms are copyrightable or are instead non-copyrightable functional elements that are an inherent part of cheerleading uniform designs. In a split decision, … Continue Reading

Central District of California Holds That the California Resale Royalty Act Is Preempted by Federal Copyright Law

By Eric Hiatt on April 21, 2016 Posted in Art Law, Copyright

As previously discussed on this blog, the validity of the California Resale Royalty Act (the “RRA,” Civil Code Section 986), a 1976 law that requires resellers of fine art to pay a royalty of 5 percent to the artists behind the works, was challenged in a dispute between a group of artists and Christie’s Inc., … Continue Reading

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

By Dominic Gentile and Tatiana Markel on April 13, 2016 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

Federal Circuit Denies Rehearing on Whether Section 337 Includes Digital Imports

By Allen Sokal on April 8, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Patent

The Federal Circuit debate begun in Suprema, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, 796 F.3d 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (en banc), continued with the court’s denial of rehearing en banc in ClearCorrect Operating, LLC v. International Trade Commission, No. 2014-1527(Fed. Cir. Mar. 31, 2016) (Prost, C.J., concurring, and Newman, J., dissenting). In Suprema, the en banc … Continue Reading

Paul McCartney Refuses to Let It Be and Launches Effort to Reclaim Copyrights to Songs

By Tatiana Markel and Dominic Gentile on April 6, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Royalties

Legendary songwriter Paul McCartney has begun the process of acquiring the rights to songs he co-wrote with John Lennon while both were members of the Beatles. Although McCartney and Lennon authored most of the band’s hits, they signed over their copyrights at the start of their career on the advice of manager Brian Epstein. By … Continue Reading

The Beastie Boys Fight for Their Rights and Win

By Michelle Usitalo on March 11, 2016 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

Singers Chris Brown and The Weeknd Resolve Copyright Disputes

By Tatiana Markel on March 11, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Music Industry

Last year, songwriter Nayeri Gregor filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Chris Brown, Benny Benassi, and others, claiming Brown’s 2012 song Don’t Wake Me Up infringed her 2009 song of the same title. According to Gregor, in 2011 she played her song for Irish singer-songwriter Brian Kennedy. Gregor further claimed that Kennedy memorized the music … Continue Reading

NFL Prevails over Retired NFL Players’ Suit Involving Use of Game Footage

By Regina Culbert on March 10, 2016 Posted in Class Action, Copyright

The Eighth Circuit may have just ended the game for three retired NFL players who sued NFL Films for using game footage of the players in films. The players had participated in a class action lawsuit alleging violation of their rights of publicity in the District of Minnesota, but opted out of the settlement over … Continue Reading

Can Software Be Created As a Work-for-Hire?

By Chad Rutkowski on March 1, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Software

In early February a decision out of the Southern District of New York added another layer of dicta supporting the notion that software created by an independent contractor can qualify as a work-for-hire. In Stanacard, LLC v. Rubard, LLC, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15721 (S.D.N.Y. February 3, 2016), the court found in dicta that work … Continue Reading

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

By Oren J. Warshavsky on February 26, 2016 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

By Tatiana Markel on February 24, 2016 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

Copyright Content Platforms – This Weeks Odds & Ends

By Maryanne Stanganelli on February 19, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Trademark

A Loss for FilmOn. FilmOn.com Inc., a company that offers a service identical to the one held infringing by the Supreme Court in Aereo, tried to argue that it should be treated like a cable company. The district court disagreed and this week the Second Circuit also agreed, and sanctioned FilmOn for failing to abide … Continue Reading

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

By Oren J. Warshavsky on February 19, 2016 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

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

By Eric Hiatt on February 12, 2016 Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, Music Industry

Copyright Office May Get $15 Million Budget Increase for 2017 The increase—about twenty-five percent over this year’s budget—could help towards the Copyright Office’s goal of making registration and other transactions simple, transparent, and technologically savvy, as laid out by the 5-year plan released by Maria Pallante, United States Register of Copyrights. It will also help … Continue Reading

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

By Oren J. Warshavsky and Tatiana Markel on February 12, 2016 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