Copyright Law

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By: Scott Cameron

Copyright law protects authors and artists who create original works from those who might copy their works. A work may be registered with the United States Copyright Office, but the creator is protected by copyright law even if the work is not registered. As has been said, copyright protection attaches as soon as the pen leaves the page. Thus, copyright law provides a private right of action in federal court against anyone who copies, distributes, or makes derivative works without the permission of the creator of the work. Before the copyright owner can bring a suit for infringement of her copyright, however, the Copyright Act places a requirement that the copyright be registered with the Copyright Office.Continue Reading What does “Copyright Registration” Mean, And Why Does It Matter?

By Zachary Wadlé

On April 19, 2010, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Costco v. Omega, in which the Ninth Circuit found that the first sale doctrine in copyright law only applied to goods manufactured or sold in the United States with the copyright owner’s authority. The Supreme Court will decide whether the first sale doctrine also applies to the “one-way” gray market sale of goods –goods that are manufactured and first sold abroad and then imported to the United States without the authorization of the copyright owner.Continue Reading Supreme Court Will Decide Direction of the “First Sale” Doctrine in Copyright Law

by Zachary Wadlé

Earlier this year, I wrote of an impending legal battle between Shepard Fairey, the artist of the iconic Barack Obama “Hope” painting and the Associated Press who owns the photograph upon which the painting was based. I questioned whether any artist could commandeer the President’s likeness, and whether President Obama could stop the use of his likeness if he was so inclined. As discussed in my previous article, the answer likely depends on how “transformative” of President Obama’s likeness the work of art is.

 Continue Reading “Transformative” Or Not Revisited

by W. Scott Cameron

Section 505 of the Copyright Act provides that the court may, in its discretion, award full costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, to the prevailing party in a claim arising under the Copyright Act.  17 U.S.C. § 505.  In 1941, the Ninth Circuit ruled that when a party voluntarily dismisses her claim without prejudice after the court ordered a more definite statement, the defendant is the prevailing party, and therefore entitled to attorneys’ fees.  Corcoran v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 121 F.2d 575, 576 (9th Cir. 1941).  The Corcoran court expressly rejected the plaintiff’s contention that the dismissal without prejudice does not confer prevailing party status on the defendants.  Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Changes Its Definition of “Prevailing Party” In Copyright Cases

by Zachary J. Wadlé

J.D. Salinger, author of the seminal teen angst novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” recently filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in Manhattan for copyright infringement against the author of a purported “sequel” to Salinger’s classic work entitled “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye.” Salinger’s lawsuit sought a permanent injunction against publication of the new work in the United States.Continue Reading Copyrighter in the Rye – J.D. Salinger Stops Publication of Alleged Sequel To Famous Work