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Mealey's Copyright

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
May 28, 2024
In Cribl And Splunk Copyright Fight, Fair Use Finding Explained

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on May 24 issued an opinion detailing the rationale behind his instruction to jurors that certain copying and uses of Splunk Inc. software by Cribl Inc. qualify as fair use under federal copyright law, as well as an order in which he declared that a violation of California’s unfair competition law (UCL) can be premised on allegations of copyright misuse and rejected the copyright owner’s position that fair use rights can be “contracted away.”
May 28, 2024
Judge Faults Lengthy ChatGPT Complaint As Akin To Town Hall Fodder

SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs’ lengthy complaint against Microsoft Corp. and various OpenAI entities over the training of artificial intelligence raises policy concerns more appropriate in a town hall than a courtroom, a federal judge in California said May 24 in granting motions to dismiss a class complaint that includes allegations under the California unfair competition law (UCL) and other state laws.
May 24, 2024
Media Companies Seek Opportunity To Respond To OpenAI’s New Standing Challenge

NEW YORK — After briefing wrapped on artificial intelligence companies’ motion to dismiss two media companies’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) case for lack of standing, the media companies accused OpenAI Inc. and the other defendants of changing their argument mid-briefing and on May 23 asked a New York federal court for leave to file a surreply so they could respond.
May 23, 2024
Motion To Dismiss Sinks Copyright Claims Over Scuba Diving Cop Show

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York has dismissed with prejudice allegations of copyright infringement leveled by an author who says he was first to conceive of the idea behind the hit Japanese television show “DCU: Deep Crime Unit.”
May 20, 2024
High Court Won’t Consider Copyright Discovery Rule In Online Photo Use Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Hearst Newspapers LLC’s plea that the U.S. Supreme Court settle the application of the atextual discovery rule to the Copyright Act fell on deaf ears, as the high court in its May 20 order list denied the media company’s petition for certiorari in a dispute over its use of a photographer’s copyrighted photographs on the websites of several of its publications.
May 20, 2024
California Federal Judge Denies JMOL, New Trial In CoComelon Copyright Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A copyright infringement verdict and $17.7 million award by a California jury in July in a dispute between competing YouTube channels will not be undone, a federal judge there has ruled, deeming the outcome of the trial supported by substantial evidence.
May 16, 2024
Judge Won’t Compel Authors Guild Evidence In Authors’ AI Copyright Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — While authors portray documents in a related case as clearly relevant to their artificial intelligence copyright claims against OpenAI Inc. and others, their failure to go beyond declaratory statements and explain the relevance of any evidence requires denying the request to compel production, a federal judge in California said.
May 16, 2024
Record Companies Beat Motion To Dismiss; Copyright Claims Over Digitization Proceed

SAN FRANCISCO — Entities at the helm of the “Great 78 Project” — an initiative dedicated to converting 78 rpm records into digital format and then making the recordings available online for free — were denied dismissal of copyright infringement allegations leveled against them by various recording companies by a federal judge in California on May 15.
May 14, 2024
Tiger King Case Will Be Reheard; Panel Seeks More Briefing On Impact Of Warhol

DENVER — A March ruling reinstating copyright claims against Netflix Inc. and a production company over video footage taken at the funeral of the late husband of Joseph Maldonado-Passage — also known as “Joe Exotic,” the “Tiger King” featured in the docuseries of the same name — is back on hold, after a panel of the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed May 13 to a limited rehearing in the case.
May 14, 2024
2nd Circuit: Miscategorized Copyright Registration More Than An Inaccuracy

NEW YORK — An appellant who saw his infringement case against rapper Donald Glover, performing as Childish Gambino, and others dismissed for failure to satisfy the copyright registration requirement was unable to secure reversal from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which rejected arguments that mistakenly registering a musical work as a sound recording is tantamount to an inaccuracy.
May 14, 2024
Kiwi Farms Operator Can’t Persuade High Court To Hear Copyright Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 13 said it won’t weigh in on a reversal by the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals of a Utah federal judge’s decision that dismissed copyright infringement claims leveled against the owner and operator of the Kiwi Farms website.
May 13, 2024
Appellant Seeks Rehearing Of No Coverage Ruling In Dispute Over Gold Treasure

SEATTLE — An appellant on May 10 asked the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to rehear its April 26 opinion that affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an ocean marine general liability insurer in a declaratory judgment lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying $7.5 million covenant judgment that resolved claims that the appellant was denied possession and use of the tangible and intangible work product that was created during gold salvage expeditions.
May 10, 2024
In Tentative Ruling, Judge Says Some AI Copyright Claims Likely Survive

SAN FRANCISCO — Artists’ copyright infringement claims appear to adequately allege that an artificial intelligence program stores copyrighted works and can be further tested at summary judgment, a federal judge in California said in a tentative ruling on motions to dismiss.
May 10, 2024
Data Scraper Prevails In Spat With X Corp., Judge Finds Copyright Preemption

SAN FRANCISCO — Dismissal in full, with leave to amend, was granted May 9 in a breach of contract and unfair competition action by X Corp., with a federal judge in California declaring that “the extent to which public data may be freely copied from social media platforms, even under the banner of scraping, should generally be governed by the Copyright Act,” and not by “conflicting, ubiquitous” terms of use.