Over twenty years ago, the Ninth Circuit decided the case of Dr. Seuss Enterprises., LP v. Penguin Books USA, Inc. That case involved a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Dr. Seuss over a book entitled The Cat NOT in the Hat! A Parody by Dr. Juice. This book was about the O.J. Simpson trial presented in… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Copyright Law
Subscribe to Copyright Law RSS FeedSupreme Court: File Your Copyright Application!
Posted in Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Litigation, IPThis week, the Supreme Court resolved a split in the circuits regarding an issue in copyright law that affects copyright owners in California. Until now, the law in the Ninth Circuit was that a copyright owner could file suit for infringement as soon as they filed a copyright application in the Copyright Office. However, in… Continue Reading
Fresh Prince’s Alfonso Ribiero Denied Copyright Registration for the Carlton Dance
Posted in Copyright LawAs we previously wrote on this blog, Alfonso Ribiero, better known as Carlton Banks from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air filed suit against multiple videogame publishers, including the publisher of NBA 2K and Fortnite for featuring avatars that perform his signature “Carlton Dance.” Ribiero’s case, however, may have just encountered a dispositive roadblock. Last… Continue Reading
In-Game “Carlton Dance” Routine Triggers Lawsuit From Fresh Prince Actor Alfonso Ribeiro
Posted in Copyright Law, Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property LitigationActors gain notoriety for different reasons. For some, it’s due to a physical characteristic or an iconic character portrayal. For Alfonso Ribeiro, it’s a dance. The dance, which has become known worldwide as the “Carlton Dance,” is a corny dance number performed by Ribeiro’s character Carlton Banks on the 90’s sitcom “The Fresh Prince of… Continue Reading
Royalties, Preemption and Attorney’s Fees
Posted in Copyright Law, IPThe Ninth Circuit recently was called upon to decide awarding attorney’s fees in a case where artists were suing for unpaid royalties under the California Resale Royalties Act (“CRRA”). In the case, Close v. Sotheby’s, Inc. (decided December 3, 2018), the Ninth Circuit ordered that the Plaintiff-artists be required to pay attorney’s fees to the… Continue Reading
SCOTUS Will Decide What the Copyright Act Means by “Registered.”
Posted in Copyright Law, IP, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The NewsAny work that is entitled to copyright protection automatically receives protection when it is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. However, in order to benefit from the Copyright Act, the owner must “register” his or her work with the United States Copyright Office. Put another way, in order to protect against copyright infringement, the… Continue Reading
THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF THE SHORT FORM COPYRIGHT ASSIGNMENT
Posted in Copyright Law, IP, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The NewsRecently, a client asked why we included a short form option agreement and a short form assignment agreement as an exhibit to a long form literary option agreement. I am sure that many a corporate transactional attorney has similarly wondered why a short form copyright assignment agreement is included within the package of numerous M&A… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Rejects “General Possibility” of Infringement Theory
Posted in Copyright Law, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The NewsToday’s real estate industry relies heavily on the use of websites displaying photographs of properties for sale to entice buyers. Many of the photographs on these sites are taken by professional photographers who license the use of their photos and retain the copyrights to them. In Stevens v. CoreLogic, Inc. (decided June 20, 2018), the… Continue Reading
No More Monkey Business: The Ninth Circuit Finds Monkeys Cannot Sue for Copyright Infringement
Posted in Copyright Law, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The NewsThe Ninth Circuit was recently faced with a novel issue: Does a crested macaque, or generally speaking, a monkey, have the right to sue humans, corporations, and companies for damages and injunctive relief arising from claims of copyright infringement? Unless you’re familiar with this case, you’re probably wondering what occurred to give rise to Naruto,… Continue Reading
The DMCA’s Safe Harbor Provision and Policing Repeat Infringers
Posted in Copyright Law, IP Law Blog Lawyers In The News, PrivacyThe Ninth Circuit recently revisited the issue of the applicability of the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) in the case Ventura Content, Ltd., v. Motherless, Inc., et al. (decided March 14, 2018). The issue before the Court was whether the defendants had presented undisputed evidence that they fell within the… Continue Reading
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Finds Defendants Have Not Committed Acts of Infringement Sufficient to Establish Venue
Posted in Copyright LawThe U.S. Supreme Court’s May 22, 2017 ruling in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods held that personal jurisdiction alone does not convey venue for patent cases under the patent venue statute. Previously, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the United States district courts had interpreted the patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. §1400(b),… Continue Reading
Copyright Infringement and Third Party Software Support
Posted in Copyright LawA recent case out of the Ninth Circuit, Oracle USA, Inc. v. Rimini Street, Inc. (July 13, 2017), illustrates some of the risks third party software vendors run concerning copyright issues. Oracle develops and licenses proprietary “enterprise software” for business around the world. A business using Oracle’s enterprise software would pay a one-time licensing fee to download… Continue Reading
Would Glue Maker’s Trademark Claim Stick Against Pot Strain
Posted in Copyright LawAccording to cannabis folklore, cannabis cultivators in 2010, Josey Whales and Lone Watie created a strain of marijuana that was so sticky, Mr. Whales, during a phone call, commented that the plant made his hands “stick to things like Gorilla Glue.” From that, Whales and Watie came up with a name of their strain –… Continue Reading
USPTO Finalizes Rule for Privileged Communications in Trials Before the PTAB
Posted in Copyright Law, Legal Info, Patent LawThe Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) provided for trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) in inter partes reviews, post-grant reviews, the transitional program for covered business method patents, and derivation proceedings. While patent agents are registered to practice before the USPTO, they are… Continue Reading
Say Cheese: Stock Photos, Non-Exclusivity & Copyright Infringement
Posted in Copyright LawThe Ninth Circuit recently addressed an issue as to who may pursue claims for copyright infringement concerning stock photos in the case DRK Photo v. McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC, et al. (Sept. 12, 2017). Apparently there has been a rise in copyright infringement claims involving stock photos and the Ninth Circuit was called upon… Continue Reading
Google May be a Verb, but Verb Use Alone Does Not Constitute Genericness
Posted in Copyright Law, Cyberspace Law, Legal Info, Web/TechJust Google it. Can you Google the score? Have you Googled the restaurant’s reviews? These are all common phrases in today’s internet-reliant society, and it’s entirely due to the creation of Google and its widespread success. By all measures, this should be a good thing for Google. Its company’s primary trademark, Google, has become such… Continue Reading
Wine and Spirits Are not Always Confusingly Similar
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawBrand litigation can be extreme in the consumer products space and even more so for alcoholic beverages (legal cannabis brand owners take note and start stockpiling your war chest). It’s not uncommon for litigation to arise whenever an alcoholic beverage brand owner believes that another alcoholic beverage brand infringes. Such was the case for… Continue Reading
Federal Circuit: PTO Can’t Shift Burden of Proof of Patentability to Applicant
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent LawIn In re Stepan Co., 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 16246, decided August 25, 2017 the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals made it very clear that during patent prosecution, the burden of proving patent ability lies with the PTO examiner. The patent applicant was Stepan Co., who filed a patent application for formulas of an herbicide. … Continue Reading
Patent Myths Corrected – Part Two
Posted in Copyright Law, Trademark LawMy last column was the first of two columns discussing some of the most common misconceptions or myths about patents. Here is the second part, starting with number five on my list. A Patent Does Not Give the Patent Owner the Right to Practice the Invention. Inventors and patent owners often assume that a patent… Continue Reading
Amazon Tips its Hand with New Trademark Application
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawAs you likely know, Amazon is taking the world by storm. Whether it is through its convenient offering of household goods, and pretty much anything else you can imagine, to your door, or through its expansive selection of movies and television shows provided through its Amazon Prime streaming service, Amazon is a major player in… Continue Reading
When is Making a Movie Not an Act of Free Speech?
Posted in Copyright Law, Entertainment Law, Legal Info, Trademark LawI admit that the title of this article may be a bit deceiving. Making films, like any other production of art, is almost always an act of free speech. However, the Ninth Circuit was recently faced with a dilemma of determining this issue in connection with an anti-SLAPP motion brought against a screen writer who… Continue Reading
Eagles Ltd. v. Hotel California Baja, LLC: Any Time of Year, You Can Find Infringement Here
Posted in Copyright Law, Patent Law, Trademark LawRecently, Eagles Ltd. (the “Eagles”), the entity in control of legendary rock band The Eagles’ business affairs, filed a lawsuit against Hotel California Baja, LLC for trademark infringement. While I’m sure most of us are familiar with the Eagles’ song Hotel California, it may come as a surprise to most trademark aficionados that the Eagles… Continue Reading
The Jury Is Still Out on What “Registration” Means Under Section 411 of the Copyright Act.
Posted in Copyright LawThe Copyright Act provides that “Registration” of a copyright is a precondition to filing suit for copyright infringement. 17 U.S.C. § 411(a). We are still trying to figure out exactly when registration occurs. While copyright registration is voluntary, the Copyright Act provides several incentives for a copyright owner to register a copyright, one of… Continue Reading
Googling Google
Posted in Copyright Law, Cyberspace Law, Trademark Law, Web/Tech“I googled it …” has become ubiquitous in every day conversation. Many of us refer to “googling” as the act of searching the internet regardless of whether we use the Google search engine to do so. But has our everyday use of the verb “googling” rendered the Google trademark unprotectable? “Nope,” said the Ninth Circuit… Continue Reading
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