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Mealey's Copyright

September 19, 2022
3rd Circuit Upholds Dismissal In Copyright, Contract Dispute

PHILADELPHIA — An architectural firm’s copyright infringement claims against the city of Harrisburg, Pa., were correctly dismissed by a Pennsylvania federal judge because the firm failed to follow the procedures for terminating the parties’ contract, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed Sept. 15.
September 15, 2022
Colorado Federal Magistrate Skeptical Of Fair Use Defense In Copyright Case

DENVER — A motion to dismiss allegations of copyright infringement leveled against a website that published a post about a photographer’s new collection should be denied, a Colorado federal magistrate judge ruled Sept. 14.
September 14, 2022
New York Federal Judge Stands By Dismissal In Copyright, Trademark Row

NEW YORK — A request by two pro se copyright and trademark infringement plaintiffs for reconsideration of a New York federal judge’s recent dismissal of the case against Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. and others was denied Sept. 11.
September 14, 2022
Writer Urges Supreme Court To Hear Texas A&M Copyright Takings Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A writer who sued Texas A&M University (TAMU) for appropriating a sports biography he wrote filed a reply brief on Sept. 5, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a suit that deals with sovereign immunity and the takings clause, arguing that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling favoring TAMU because it is “an arm of the state,” “undermines federal copyright protection from state predation” and will “encourage more state piracy.”
September 13, 2022
Copyright Defendants Had Implied License, N.M. Federal Magistrate Rules

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — In a Sept. 12 holding, a federal judge in New Mexico granted a so-called artists collective summary judgment on allegations that they infringed copyrights by displaying an art installation.
September 12, 2022
Copyright Counterclaim, Trademark Preemption Defense Dismissed In New York

NEW YORK — A dispute between two similarly named organizations centered on the modern architect Paul Rudolph will proceed without a counterclaim for copyright infringement in place, a federal judge in New York ruled Sept. 8.
September 12, 2022
Nonprofits Support Lyrics Site Operator’s Certiorari Bid Over Copyright Preemption

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two nonprofit organizations filed amicus curiae briefs on Sept. 8 supporting the operator of an online song lyrics database in its copyright suit against Google LLC, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant the company’s petition for certiorari and clarify when the Copyright Act preempts noncopyright claims brought in conjunction with infringement claims.
September 09, 2022
In Lace Copyright Case Bridalwear Retailer Wins Dismissal In Part

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 8 said that allegations that a popular bridal chain directly infringed five lace designs will proceed but that a claim for contributory infringement must be dismissed.
September 09, 2022
Copyright Claims Over Website Reinstated By 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — A decision by a Washington federal judge to dismiss allegations of copyright infringement leveled against a Hong Kong company was reversed Aug. 31 by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which found that the defendants purposely directed their operation of the accused website at U.S. viewers.
September 09, 2022
Warhol Foundation Defends Transformativeness Factor To Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Sept. 7 reply brief supporting its petition for certiorari, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. (AWF) tells the U.S. Supreme Court that the theory advanced by the respondent photographer for determining fair use of a copyrighted work does not properly weigh the transformative factor and, as a result, threatens to eviscerate the fair use defense.
September 08, 2022
$1.44M Profit Award In Copyright Case Vacated By 11th Circuit

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia wrongly used an amended copyright infringement complaint as the basis for a default judgment because the amended complaint stated a new claim for relief in the form of joint and several liability for profits, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 7.
September 06, 2022
Plaintiff Substituted In Copyright, Patent Row Over Pet Hair Remover

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on Sept. 2 granted a motion to substitute a plaintiff, one month after she directed the original plaintiff to brief its standing to maintain a patent and copyright infringement action against a competitor.
September 01, 2022
Panel Upholds Judgment In Favor Of Copyright Infringement Defendants

ST. LOUIS — A Minnesota federal judge’s determination that Allen Beaulieu, a former photographer for the late artist Prince, failed to demonstrate unlawful access, transmission or copying of his data by several conversion and copyright infringement defendants was not erroneous, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 30.
September 01, 2022
Texas A&M Opposes Certiorari In Suit Over Online Posting Of Football Biography

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Texas A&M University (TAMU) Athletic Department asserts in an Aug. 19 brief that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly found that it was entitled to sovereign immunity from a writer’s copyright infringement claims under controlling precedent, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny the writer’s petition for certiorari.
August 31, 2022
Panel Agrees: ‘Derivative Sovereign Immunity’ Copyright Defense Untimely

CINCINNATI — Efforts by an infringement defendant to skirt liability on the basis of “derivative sovereign immunity” were properly rejected by a Tennessee federal judge, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Aug. 23.
August 24, 2022
11th Circuit Affirms: Removal Of CMI By Intermediary Not Actionable

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Florida correctly found that a defendant lacked the requisite knowledge that its removal of copyright management information (CMI) from photographs would “induce, enable, facilitate or conceal infringement” by others, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded Aug. 12.
August 23, 2022
5th Circuit Affirms Exclusion Of Evidence In Copyright Case

NEW ORLEANS — A dismissal of copyright claims by a federal judge in Texas following a jury verdict of no infringement was affirmed Aug. 11 by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in a blow to professional wrestler Booker T. Huffman.
August 18, 2022
United States Seeks Inclusion In High Court Fair Use Case Over Andy Warhol Works

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The same day that the U.S. solicitor general (SG) filed an amicus curiae brief supporting a photographer who claims that Andy Warhol infringed the copyright in a photo she took of the musician Prince, the government also filed a motion asking the U.S. Supreme Court to permit it to participate in the upcoming Oct. 12 oral arguments over when the use of a copyrighted work is sufficiently transformative to constitute fair use.
August 16, 2022
Photographer Amici To 9th Circuit: Compiled Photos Have Independent Value

SAN FRANCISCO — One week after a real estate photographer asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court’s per-photo statutory judgment against Zillow Group Inc. in a copyright infringement dispute, a coalition of photographer associations filed an amicus curiae brief on Aug. 8 supporting the appellee’s position that photos within a compilation have an independent value.
August 12, 2022
Vimeo’s ‘Curation’ Of Infringing Videos Precludes Safe Harbor, Labels Argue

NEW YORK — Past intentional actions by Vimeo Inc. in which it actively selected videos for its online platform’s library that infringed their copyrights prevent the company from claiming safe harbor under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a group of record labels argue in their Aug. 2 reply brief, asking the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to vacate a lower court judgment in Vimeo’s favor and remand for a jury trial.
August 12, 2022
Lyrics Website Seeks Certiorari On Copyright Act Statutory Preemption

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The operator of the Genius song lyrics website filed a petition for certiorari Aug. 5, asking the U.S. Supreme Court “to restore clarity . . . on the scope of statutory preemption under the Copyright Act,” asserting that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred in finding that its state law contract-related claims over Google LLC’s purported copying of lyrics from its site are preempted by federal law.
August 11, 2022
Photographer To High Court: Copyright Fair Use Is More Than Transformativeness

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A photographer tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an Aug. 8 respondent brief that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly found that works created by Andy Warhol using a photo she took of the musician Prince were not sufficiently transformative to allow the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc. (AWF) to claim fair use as a defense to copyright infringement, telling the high court that under the petitioner’s theory of transformativeness, “fair use becomes a license to steal.”
August 08, 2022
California Federal Judge Won’t Dismiss, Transfer Copyright Litigation

SAN FRANCISCO — In an Aug. 5 holding, a federal judge in California said an amended copyright infringement complaint overcomes the jurisdictional deficiencies which led her to dismiss the lawsuit just six months earlier.
August 05, 2022
Florida Federal Judge Suggests $1M Fee Award In Copyright Case

MIAMI — On the heels of a January decision by the 11th Circuit U.S Court of Appeals affirming a grant of summary judgment in favor of a copyright infringement defendant, a Florida federal magistrate judge on Aug. 4 recommended the defendant be awarded more than $1 million in attorney fees and costs.
August 05, 2022
Copyright, Trade Secret Claims Over Ultrasound Systems Will Proceed

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on Aug. 4 denied a motion to dismiss allegations of copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation leveled by Philips North America LLC over proprietary software that protects access to features of Philips’ medical imaging devices.