Category: Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property

Eight Mile Style v. Spotify: District Court Holds Doctrine of Equitable Estoppel Bars Copyright Claims

Written by Robert H. Rotstein On August 15, 2024, a federal district court granted summary judgment to defendants Spotify USA Inc. (“Spotify”) and the Harry Fox Agency (“HFA”) in their long-running copyright-infringement dispute with plaintiffs Eight Mile Style and Martin Affiliated, LLC (together, “Eight Mile Style”) over the service’s streaming of Eminem’s catalog. Eight Mile Style, LLC  v. Spotify USA Inc., 3:19-CV-00736, 2024 WL 3836075 … Continue reading Eight Mile Style v. Spotify: District Court Holds Doctrine of Equitable Estoppel Bars Copyright Claims

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Intellectual Property

Vetter v. Resnik: A Copyright Termination Opinion that Knows No Boundaries

Written by Eric J. Schwartz and Rebecca Benyamin For the first time, a federal court has held that termination rights under Section 304 of the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. § 304) re-capture not only U.S. copyright rights, but also foreign rights as well, where the original grant of rights was for “worldwide” rights. Vetter v. Resnik, No. 23-1369-SDD-EWD, 2024 WL 3405556 (D. La. … Continue reading Vetter v. Resnik: A Copyright Termination Opinion that Knows No Boundaries

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Intellectual Property

Class Action Alleging Improper Appropriation of Individuals’ Likenesses Falls Within the Public Interest Exception to California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

Written by Alexandra Anfuso In Batis v. Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc., Case No. 23-15260, 2024 WL 3325663 (9th Cir,. July 8, 2024), the Ninth Circuit held that California’s anti-SLAPP provisions could not overcome a class action seeking to preclude the appropriation of individuals’ names and likenesses. Defendant Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (“D&B”) operates a searchable business-to-business database called D&B Hoovers, which contains information … Continue reading Class Action Alleging Improper Appropriation of Individuals’ Likenesses Falls Within the Public Interest Exception to California’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

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Intellectual Property

Assuming, But Not Deciding, That a Discovery Rule Exists, SCOTUS Rejects Three-Year Limit on Copyright Damages

Written by Samantha W. Frankel On May 9, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, No. 22-1078, 601 U.S. —-, 2024 WL 2061137 (U.S. May 9, 2024), resolving a circuit split over whether copyright law’s three-year statute of limitations bars a plaintiff from recovering all monetary damages suffered from inception even though the plaintiff discovered the … Continue reading Assuming, But Not Deciding, That a Discovery Rule Exists, SCOTUS Rejects Three-Year Limit on Copyright Damages

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Intellectual Property

Top Gun: Maverick Copyright Infringement Claim Shot Down on Summary Judgment

Written by Brandon E. Hughes In 2022, Shosh Yonay and Yuval Yonay sued Paramount Pictures Corporation, principally asserting a copyright infringement claim related to the 2022 motion picture Top Gun: Maverick—sequel to the 1986 film Top Gun.  Plaintiffs are the widow and son of Ehud Yonay, the author of a 1983 magazine article (the “Article”), which chronicled the experiences of pilots training at the Navy’s … Continue reading Top Gun: Maverick Copyright Infringement Claim Shot Down on Summary Judgment

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Intellectual Property

Holding That Not All Secondary Liability is the Same, the Fourth Circuit Vacates $1 Billion Copyright Infringement Judgment

Written by Elaine Nguyen Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a $1 billion judgment in favor of record companies against Cox Communications, Inc. Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications, Case No. 2-1168 (4th Cir. Feb. 20, 2024). The opinion addressed the liability of Internet Service providers (“ISPs”) for copyright infringement committed by their subscribers. The case stemmed from allegations … Continue reading Holding That Not All Secondary Liability is the Same, the Fourth Circuit Vacates $1 Billion Copyright Infringement Judgment

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Intellectual Property

Of Ink and Cool Jazz: California Jury Finds For Defendants in Copyright Infringement Case

Written by Chloe Briggs On Friday, January 26, 2024, a jury in the Central District of California rendered a verdict holding that celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D and related entities did not infringe photographer Jeffrey Sedlik’s copyrighted photo of Miles Davis by tattooing Davis’s image onto a friend’s arm. The jury found that the works were not substantially similar.  Plaintiff Jeffrey Sedlik filed a … Continue reading Of Ink and Cool Jazz: California Jury Finds For Defendants in Copyright Infringement Case

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Intellectual Property

Not-So-Starry Night for Copyright Applicant: Copyright Office Again Refuses To Register an AI-Generated Image

Written by Mark C. Humphrey On December 11, 2023, the U.S. Copyright Office’s Review Board rejected Ankit Sahni’s request for reconsideration of the Copyright Office’s earlier refusal to register an image created using generative AI. The Office found that the image was created using generative AI software and lacked sufficient human authorship to support registration. This is at least the fourth documented rejection on these … Continue reading Not-So-Starry Night for Copyright Applicant: Copyright Office Again Refuses To Register an AI-Generated Image

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Intellectual Property

In Hazy World of AI Law, Judicial Skepticism of AI Output Infringement Claims Continues to Take Shape

Written by Stacey Chuvaieva and Mark Humphrey In a concise order, District Judge Vince Chhabria of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed several claims set forth in comedian and author Sarah Silverman’s class action copyright infringement lawsuit against Meta Platforms. Inc., captioned as Richard Kadrey, et al. v. Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 23-CV-03417-VC, 2023 WL 8039640 (N.D. Cal. Nov. 20, … Continue reading In Hazy World of AI Law, Judicial Skepticism of AI Output Infringement Claims Continues to Take Shape

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Intellectual Property

No Dancing Around Reversal in Copyright Choreography Case

Written by Brandon E. Hughes In 2022, Choreographer Kyle Hanagami (“Hanagami”) brought suit against video game developer and publisher Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”), claiming that a virtual animation – known as an “emote” – that Epic sold as downloadable content for its game Fortnite infringed Hanagami’s registered copyright in one of his choreographic works. In August 2022, the United States District Court for the Central … Continue reading No Dancing Around Reversal in Copyright Choreography Case

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