The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, following the Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, held that the owner of a copyright in a work must register the work with the Copyright Office prior to filing suit and a failure to do so results in dismissal of the action. … [Read more...]
Reduction in Attorney’s Fees and Costs Without Sound Basis Was Error
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that an award of attorney’s fees by the district court was reversible error because the lower court failed to account for the contractually bargained for attorneys fees clause in the copyright and breach of contract action. In Yellow … [Read more...]
Right of Publicity Preempted by Copyright Law
In Maloney v. T3Media, Inc. d/b/a Paya.com, No. 15-55630 (9th Cir. April 5, 2017) (Available Here), the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that plaintiff’s state law claims were preempted by section 301 of the federal Copyright Act because plaintiffs sought to hold … [Read more...]
Artistic Design Elements Separable as Art from Cheerleader Uniforms Are Copyright Protected
The U.S. Supreme Court, ruling on the copyrightability of cheerleading uniforms, held that copyright protection is available for a useful article if the artistic feature “(1) can be perceived as a two-or three-dimensional work of art separate from the useful article, and (2) … [Read more...]
Court Finds Website HTML Code Copyrightable Subject Matter
The U.S. District Court, for the Northern District of California, held that website HTML code is copyrightable subject matter and did not follow the U.S. Copyright Office’s opinion that HTML code and the Cascading Style Sheets ("CSS") is not subject to a copyright claim. … [Read more...]
Attorney’s Fees in Copyright Cases – Set by Defendant’s Objective Reasonableness
The Supreme Court in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., No. 15-375 (Supreme Court, June 2016) (Available Here), held that the “objective reasonableness” of an unsuccessful litigant’s position should be accorded “substantial weight” when awarding attorneys’ fees in … [Read more...]
Trademark Claims Preempted by Copyright Act
A federal district court dismissed plaintiff’s trademark infringement claims over an ad campaign using the phrase “Nobody Puts Baby in a Corner” because the Copyright Act preempted all aspects of the trademark claim. In Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc. v. TD Ameritrade Services … [Read more...]
Copyright Claim Expires 3 Years After Known Infringement
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (primarily hearing federal appeals from the New York region) held that if a plaintiff knows about a copyright infringement and waits three (3) years before filing suit, the infringement claim is barred by the statute of … [Read more...]
NFL Players Right-of-Publicity Claims in NFL Films Preempted by Copyright Act
In Dryer, Bethea and White v. The National Football League, 14-3428 (8th Cir. February 26, 2016) (Available here), the Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the National Football League (“NFL”) on the appellant’s right-of-publicity and Lanham … [Read more...]
Fair Use Must be Considered Prior to Sending a DMCA Takedown Notice
In Lenz. v. Universal Music Corp., No.13-16106 (9th Cir. Sept. 2015) (Available Here), the Court held that prior to sending a takedown notification under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), copyright holders must consider whether the allegedly infringing material … [Read more...]
