Mealey's Copyright
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July 03, 2024
3rd Circuit: Claims Of Copyright Violation Negated By Licensing Agreement
PHILADELPHIA — A panel of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a copyright infringement claim brought by a woman and the health company she owns against her brother and his affiliated health company, affirming the finding of a Pennsylvania federal judge that an agreement between the siblings allowed the brother total freedom to create and distribute works related to a hormone therapy system she created.
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July 01, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Use Of ‘Server Test’ To Reject Goat Photo Copyright Claim
SAN FRANCISCO — A Nevada federal judge correctly applied the “server test” to determine that a photographer’s copyright to a picture of an escaped goat was not infringed by a website operator showing the photo on the website, a panel of judges in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held June 28.
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June 28, 2024
High Court Overrules Chevron Deference, Changes Standard For Regulatory Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 28 voted 6-3 to overrule the doctrine of Chevron deference as incompatible with the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations, changing governing precedent for federal courts reviewing agencies’ regulatory actions.
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June 28, 2024
Federal Circuit Transfers Copyright Row Over Russian Band To 11th Circuit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found a that record label should not have appealed to that circuit a Florida federal judge’s finding that the label failed to establish personal jurisdiction against a French company for allegedly infringing on copyrights related to a Soviet-era Russian boy band, ordering that the appeal be transferred to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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June 26, 2024
Music Industry Entities Sue Pair Of AI Companies Over Copying Of Recordings
NEW YORK — Two companies trained artificial intelligence on decades’ worth of copyrighted sound recordings with “rapid and devastating” effect, various music industry entities claim in a pair of June 25 complaints filed in Massachusetts and New York federal courts, warning that the technology presents both “promise and peril.”
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June 26, 2024
7th Circuit: Church, Not Founder’s Grandson, Owns Copyright To Photo Of Founder
CHICAGO — The son and grandson of the late founder of a Christian organization cannot bring copyright counterclaims about a photo taken of the founder by his son and used in promotional materials, a panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, affirming an Indiana federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in the company’s favor in part because the photo was a “work made for hire.”
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June 26, 2024
1st Circuit: Singer Is ‘Featured Artist,’ Entitled To Royalties From Records
BOSTON — The former lead singer of one of Puerto Rico’s most popular musical acts is a “recording artist . . . featured” on the band’s recordings and not the corporate entity that owns the band or that entity’s owner, a panel of the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, reversing a Puerto Rico federal judge’s decision to deny summary judgment to the singer in a royalty dispute over certain of the band’s recordings.
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June 25, 2024
Music Industry’s AI Suit Will Play In California After Transfer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music publishers sued a California-based artificial intelligence company in Tennessee and must live with the fact that they have not shown that the fact that the company employs a few individuals who chose to work from home in Tennessee satisfies the jurisdiction hurdle, a federal judge in Tennessee said June 24.
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June 19, 2024
Microsoft Joins OpenAI’s Call For Consolidation Of Media AI Suits
NEW YORK — Microsoft Corp. joined in various OpenAI entities’ motion to consolidate a suit brought by eight news organizations challenging outputs from the ChatGPT artificial intelligence and its associated programs with a similar suit filed by The New York Times Co., saying in its joinder brief filed in a federal court in New York that doing so will combine suits that challenge similar technologies.
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June 18, 2024
Claims Over Hotel’s Use Of Minors’ Photo On Instagram, Website Dismissed
LOS ANGELES — Citing issues of preemption and shotgun pleadings, a California federal judge dismissed claims of copyright infringement, unfair competition and misappropriation, among others, that were brought against a hotel for its online use of an Instagram picture of two minors that purportedly exceeded any consent granted by the copyright holder.
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June 17, 2024
Judge Affirms Jury Verdict, Award Against Creators Of Video Game Cheat
SEATTLE — Affirming a jury’s finding that five defendants infringed copyrights in the popular Destiny 2 video game series by creating a cheat for it that they sold online, a Washington federal judge also entered a permanent injunction and a monetary judgment of $63,210 in favor of the video game developer, per the jury’s recommendation.
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June 17, 2024
Plaintiffs Won’t Amend Privacy Action Involving ChatGPT After Dismissal
SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs confronted with a court ruling finding their privacy and California unfair competition law (UCL) action involving artificial intelligence raises policy concerns more appropriate in a town hall than a courtroom told a federal judge in California on June 14 that they will not amend their complaint and asked the court to close the case.
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June 17, 2024
Media Company May Update AI Suit With More Specificity, Federal Judge Says
NEW YORK — The Intercept Media Inc. may amend its artificial intelligence copyright complaint to address “seeming lack of specificity” in the action, a federal judge in New York said, noting that he will consider existing briefing on a motion to dismiss as targeted to the amended filing and will rule quickly after the filing of supplemental briefing.
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June 14, 2024
New York City Can Intervene In Cannabis Cruise Copyright, Trademark Litigation
NEW YORK — Citing the “undeniable interest” the city of New York has in a trademark and copyright infringement action involving the “NYC NEW YORK CANNABIS” logo, a federal judge in New York has granted the city’s motion to intervene.
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June 13, 2024
Proctor & Gamble Tells 2nd Circuit Febreze Jingle Did Not Infringe Song
NEW YORK — A five-note melodic hook that is part of a copyrighted song is not separately protectable, Proctor & Gamble Corp. (P&G) and others argue in an appellee brief, asking the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court’s dismissal of a musician’s complaint in which he alleged that the Febreze advertising jingle infringed the hook.
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June 12, 2024
1st Circuit: No Final Judgment With Registration Requirement Dismissal
BOSTON — A graphic designer whose copyright infringement allegations against a former client were dismissed by a federal judge in Massachusetts saw the action reinstated by the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled that a prior action between the parties was not claim preclusive.
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June 12, 2024
Netflix, Amici Tell 10th Circuit Use Of Clip In ‘Tiger King’ Was Fair
DENVER — In a supplemental brief filed at the behest of a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that granted its petition for rehearing, Netflix Inc. argues that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling supports a finding that its use of an unlicensed video clip in its wildly popular “Tiger King” docuseries constituted fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act.
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June 12, 2024
Panel Reinstates Trade Secret Liability Verdict, Affirms Denial Of Fees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Allegations of patent infringement voluntarily dismissed midtrial and copyright infringement on the eve of trial were not so devoid of merit as to justify an award of attorney fees in favor of a defendant medical equipment company, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed June 11.
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June 10, 2024
N.Y. Copyright Case Against Reuters Tossed In Favor Of Spain Contract Action
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on June 7 dismissed a photojournalist’s copyright infringement action against Delaware-based Reuters America LLC and Reuters News & Media Inc. on forum non conveniens grounds, writing that despite potential forum shopping by the news agencies, the “central dispute” between the parties “is between Spanish citizens over events that took place in Spain,” which will necessarily be governed by Spanish contract law.
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June 10, 2024
Librarian-Promulgated DMCA Rules Reviewable Under APA, Panel Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Librarian of Congress must face a legal challenge to a 2021 final rule that exempts repairers of medical equipment from allegations of circumventing technological protection measures (TPMs) for copyrighted works, with a divided District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 7 deeming sovereign immunity waived.
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June 10, 2024
8th Circuit Says Use Of Copyrighted Meme Not Licensed Or Fair
ST. LOUIS — An Iowa federal jury verdict that the reelection committee for former U.S. Rep. Steve King innocently infringed a viral meme will stand, with the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 7 rejecting both positions advanced by the committee on appeal.
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June 10, 2024
Panel Upholds Dismissal In Dispute Over ‘Pet Friendly’ Dog Shampoo
ATLANTA — A federal judge in Alabama did not err in granting a motion to dismiss trademark and copyright infringement claims leveled in connection with dog shampoo marketed as “pet friendly,” the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded.
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June 07, 2024
‘Town Hall’ Ruling Fuels Judge’s Dismissal Of AI Copyright Case
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on June 6 granted a motion to dismiss copyright claims stemming from the training of artificial intelligence, citing a second judge’s concerns that a similar case involved claims more appropriate in a town hall than a courthouse.
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June 03, 2024
New York Times, OpenAI Dispute Scope Of Discovery In AI Training Fight
NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. (NYT) told a federal judge in New York that it investigated whether ChatGPT would output protected material from the newspaper only because OpenAI Inc. and related entities are so secretive about what was used to train the artificial intelligence and that given the defendants’ admission that it tracks users, it doesn’t need any additional discovery.
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May 28, 2024
ISP Tells 4th Circuit Labels’ Misconduct Merits Relief, Discovery In Copyright Row
RICHMOND, Va. — An internet service provider (ISP), which was found liable for its subscribers’ infringing behavior in downloading copyrighted songs, entreaties the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to find that it was wrongly deprived of the opportunity to conduct additional discovery and seek relief from the infringement judgment after it was discovered that the plaintiff record labels engaged in discovery misconduct by withholding and misrepresenting evidence from their investigation firm that was used against the ISP at trial.