Mealey's Copyright : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Copyright

February 23, 2023
After Iowa Jury Trial Over Copyrighted Meme, Neither Side Wins Fees

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — A federal judge in Iowa on Feb. 22 rejected competing motions for attorney fees in copyright infringement litigation over the use of a popular meme by the campaign to reelect former U.S. Rep. Steve King.
February 22, 2023
Jurisdiction Lacking Over U.K.-Based Copyright Defendant In California

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on Feb. 21 denied a request for a default judgment against a U.K. resident and copyright infringement defendant associated with a software program that allows users to cheat in online multiplayer video games.
February 14, 2023
Policy Exclusions Bar Coverage For Alleged Advertising Injury, N.Y. Justice Rules

NEW YORK — A New York justice granted insurers’ motion for summary judgment in their lawsuit disputing coverage for allegations their insured misappropriated the underlying plaintiff’s image to advertise its services, finding that the policies’ prior publication and criminal acts exclusions bar coverage.
February 14, 2023
Panel Affirms: Rights To ‘Cathy’s Clown’ Repudiated By Don Everly

CINCINNATI — A federal judge in Tennessee did not err in finding that a claim by the heirs of Phil Everly for co-authorship of the song “Cathy’s Clown” is time-barred because his rights to the work were expressly repudiated by his brother, Isaac “Don” Everly, more than three years beforehand, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
February 14, 2023
Copyright Claims Over Sublicense Were Untimely, 9th Circuit Affirms

SAN FRANCISCO — Upon de novo review, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that a federal judge in Oregon did not err in granting a copyright infringement defendant summary judgment because the claims were filed outside a limitations period specified in a license agreement.
February 10, 2023
Amended Copyright Claims Are Inadequate, N.Y. Federal Judge Concludes

NEW YORK — Allegations that Urban Outfitters Inc. and Anthropologie Inc. infringed a copyrighted lace design were dismissed with prejudice by a New York federal judge nearly nine months after a dismissal that granted the copyright owner leave to amend.
February 10, 2023
$4M Intellectual Property Fee Not Triggered, 11th Circuit Affirms

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld a Florida federal judge’s rejection of breach of contract claims by an appellant that argued that it was entitled to a $4 million payment when jointly developed intellectual property was included in a reverse triangular merger.
February 08, 2023
Copyright Termination Row Between Former Bandmates Is Untimely

MIAMI — A copyright dispute between two former members of KC & The Sunshine Band ended in summary judgment on Feb. 7, when a federal magistrate judge in Florida said a plaintiff’s effort to enforce his purported termination rights was initiated too late.
February 07, 2023
Vicarious Copyright Infringement Claim Tossed In Washington

SEATTLE — A federal judge in Washington on Feb. 6 dismissed allegations of vicarious copyright infringement leveled by a widower against the purported producer of a nationally syndicated radio series where guests discussed the copyrighted works of the plaintiff’s late wife and questioned the circumstances surrounding her death.
February 06, 2023
Request For Dismissal Of Copyright Ownership Counterclaim Denied

TAMPA, Fla. — A dispute over the television series “The Seahunter” will proceed with a declaratory judgment counterclaim for copyright ownership in place, a federal judge in Florida has ruled.
February 03, 2023
VARA Copyright Claims By Artist Survive Summary Judgment Bid

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Allegations by an artist that a mother and son forged her artwork and then participated in a scheme to distribute and profit from their forgeries will proceed, a federal judge in Tennessee has ruled, partly denying a motion for summary judgment.
February 03, 2023
Ohio Federal Judge Won’t Dismiss Right Of Publicity Case Against Ancestry.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Allegations that Ancestry.com violated the right of publicity of a purported plaintiff class when providing class members’ yearbook photos and other personal information to subscribers will proceed, a federal judge in Ohio has ruled, rejecting the genealogy website’s motion to dismiss.
February 03, 2023
Publisher Asks Supreme Court To Resolve Fair Use Issues In Picasso Photos Lawsuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-running international dispute over whether a U.S. art book publisher’s photographic compilation of Picasso paintings infringes the copyrights in a catalog of those works, a publisher filed a reply brief supporting his petition for certiorari in which he asks the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify a purported circuit split on three of the Copyright Act’s fair use factors that he says the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals misinterpreted in ordering his compliance with a French copyright infringement judgment against him.
January 30, 2023
In New Jersey Copyright, Trademark Litigation, Defendant Prevails In Part

TRENTON, N.J. — Allegations of copyright infringement leveled in connection with a book that teaches piano to beginners will not proceed, a federal judge in New Jersey ruled, because the accused books do not qualify as derivative works.
January 26, 2023
Dismissal Of ‘Gimme Some Lovin’ Copyright Claims Upheld On Appeal

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said a Tennessee federal judge correctly dismissed on summary judgment allegations that the Spencer Davis work “Gimme Some Lovin” copied and incorporated a “riff” in “Ain’t That a Lot of Love.”
January 25, 2023
In Delaware Copyright Case, Claim For Lost Profits Rejected

WILMINGTON, Del. — Defendants have won a judgment in Delaware federal court that various plaintiffs are not entitled to an award of lost profits in connection with their copyright infringement claims over computer programs used during cataract surgery.
January 24, 2023
Dispute Over Garth Brooks Photo Transferred To Texas Federal Court

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A declaratory judgment action over a photograph of country music star Garth Brooks cannot proceed in Tennessee because the purported photographer’s contacts with the state are insufficient to satisfy the purposeful availment requirement for personal jurisdiction, a federal judge in Tennessee ruled.
January 19, 2023
Illinois Federal Judge Dismisses Copyright Claims By Extortionist

CHICAGO — Allegations that myriad media outlets violated the Copyright Act when publishing photographs of a former actor posing alongside celebrities in news articles detailing his arrest for extortion were dismissed Jan. 18 by a federal judge in Illinois.
January 18, 2023
Dismissal Of Copyright Case For Lack Of Prosecution Upheld By Panel

PHILADELPHIA — A supermarket accused of copyright infringement in connection with its use of various food photographs was correctly granted dismissal, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled, because although the advertising agency that owns the images ultimately fired its oft-sanctioned counsel and retained new representation, “it is inconceivable” that the agency was unaware of its former counsel’s “history of malfeasance.”
January 18, 2023
High Court Denies Cert, Won’t Weigh In On Challenge To DMCA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Jan. 17 orders list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari that sought clarification on the necessary elements to bring a claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for removal of copyright management information (CMI).
January 18, 2023
Supreme Court Denies Cert In Copyright Row Over Crocheted Bikini

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition for a writ of certiorari by a bikini designer whose copyright infringement lawsuit was dismissed as time-barred.
January 12, 2023
N.Y. Copyright Claim By ‘Seasoned Litigator’ Dismissed As Untimely

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Jan. 10 tossed as time-barred allegations of direct copyright infringement leveled by a photographer over images of the late rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G.
January 11, 2023
Panel Affirms: Contract Claims Over ‘Woz U’ Preempted By Copyright

SAN FRANCISCO — An Arizona federal judge’s grant of judgment on the pleadings in favor of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak on claims for money had and received in connection with the coding boot camp “Woz U” was affirmed Jan. 10 by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which agreed that the request is preempted by federal copyright law.
January 11, 2023
Copyright Claims Over Ice-Filled Hockey Puck Dismissed In Pennsylvania

PHILADELPHIA — Allegations that Fanatics Inc. incurred liability for copyright infringement by producing and selling puck-shaped hockey memorabilia filled with melted ice from high-profile hockey games were dismissed without prejudice by a federal judge in Pennsylvania on Jan. 10.
January 10, 2023
11th Circuit Won’t Revive Pro Se Copyright Plaintiff’s Case A 2nd Time

ATLANTA — Allegations that a news organization incurred copyright liability for distributing two articles without the author’s permission were properly rejected on summary judgment, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has held.