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Mealey's Copyright

March 17, 2023
GitHub Users Defend DMCA, UCL Claims In Row Over Artificial Intelligence Tool

OAKLAND, Calif.— A pair of Doe plaintiffs oppose motions to dismiss their putative class claims against Microsoft Corp., GitHub Inc. and OpenAI Inc., including violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL), telling a California federal court that they sufficiently alleged that the defendants used open-source data, without the proper attribution, to create two for-profit artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
March 14, 2023
Motion To Strike Testimony Of Court-Appointed Code Expert Denied In Copyright Case

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California denied a motion to exclude the report of the court-appointed source code expert in a copyright infringement and trade secret dispute, noting that the plaintiffs did not challenge the expert’s qualifications and, in fact, initially proposed him as an expert and rejecting their argument that his report is biased.
March 13, 2023
New York Federal Magistrate In CMI Removal Case: Framing Is ‘Akin’ To Cropping

NEW YORK — On the heels of his December ruling denying a copyright owner summary judgment on allegations that a photograph of his work that did not include copyright management information (CMI) violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a federal magistrate judge in New York denied a request by a defendant for partial summary judgment on the same issue.
March 10, 2023
Texas Federal Judge: Copyright Award Is A ‘Debt’ Under Tax Code

DALLAS — In a March 9 memorandum opinion, a Texas federal judge awarded a prevailing copyright infringement plaintiff $390,000 in damages, $366,997 in prejudgment interest, plus post-judgment interest and attorney fees following an October trial.
March 09, 2023
N.Y. Federal Magistrate: Award Statutory Maximum Damages In Copyright Row

NEW YORK — Citing the willful nature of three defendants’ infringement of a copyrighted photograph of the late artist Aaliyah, a federal magistrate judge in New York has recommended that the photographer receive the statutory maximum damage award of $150,000.
March 09, 2023
Challenge To DMCA Exemption For Medical Device Repair Tossed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by trade groups representing original equipment manufacturers of medical imaging devices over a 2021 final rule exempting repairers of medical equipment from allegations of circumventing technological protection measures (TPMs) for copyrighted works.
March 09, 2023
Copyright Claims By Architect Against Property Developer Will Proceed

SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge in Texas on March 8 denied a motion for summary judgment by the developer of the Creekside Ranch, a residential development in New Braunfels, Texas, deeming the request premature in a win for a copyright owner.
March 09, 2023
Copyright Claims Board Sides With Claimant In 1st Final Determination

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A photographer who asserted copyright infringement and removal of copyright management information (CMI) in California federal court has prevailed before the newly created Copyright Claims Board (CCB), which awarded $1,000 in statutory damages.
March 08, 2023
ISP On Losing End Of $46.7M Verdict Launches Appeal To 5th Circuit

NEW ORLEANS — An internet service provider (ISP) ordered to pay nearly two dozen record labels $46.7 million in damages for copyright infringement has filed a notice of appeal to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, conditioned on a ruling by a Texas federal judge on a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or, in the alternative, a new trial.
March 06, 2023
Florida Federal Magistrate Judge: Deny Fee Award In CMI Removal Case

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A defendant’s assertion that it is entitled to $526,958.55 in attorney fees in connection with failed allegations that it removed copyright management information (CMI) from photographs was rejected by a federal magistrate judge in Florida, who recommended that the request be denied.
March 03, 2023
GitHub, EFF Tell 2nd Circuit Video Downloading Software Does Not Violate DMCA

NEW YORK — A trial court erred in dismissing a software platform operator’s declaratory suit against the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), two amici curiae argue in briefs filed with the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeal, raising arguments of fair use of copyrighted works and the chilling of legitimate technological innovation in the context of notices the RIAA filed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
March 03, 2023
11th Circuit: No Time Limit On Damages For Timely Copyright Claims

ATLANTA — The three-year statute of limitations set forth in the Copyright Act does not limit damages where a plaintiff has a timely claim under the discovery accrual rule for infringement that occurred more than three years before filing suit, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
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.