Sixth Circuit: Proper copyright infringement test applied, finding of no infringement affirmed In a decision Friday, the Sixth Circuit affirmed a district court's finding of no copyright infringement, holding that the lower court had applied the proper legal standard. Specifically, while the district court characterized the test for substantial similarity in a different manner, the application of the test was proper insofar as the court removed from […] Continue Reading →
UK rejects proposal for 20 year copyright extension for sound recordings Yesterday the UK Department for Culture, Media & Sport issued a report rejecting a suggestion to push for an extension of copyright term in the EU for sound recordings of 20 additional years, from 50 to 70 years. Citing the Gowers Review of the UK's intellectual property framework, the report notes: [The Gowers Review] concluded […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit affirms findings of patent and copyright noninfringement In a recent decision the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment of noninfringement on one count of patent infringement and two counts of copyright infringement. The Federal Circuit also upheld the district court's denial of the plaintiff's Rule 60(b) motion seeking vacatur of the summary judgments. More details of Hutchins v. […] Continue Reading →
Sixth Circuit affirms copyright infringement award against karaoke disc maker In a decision today, the Sixth Circuit affirmed an award of $806,000 in statutory damages plus attorney fees in a copyright case. The case was brought by a copyright holder against a manufacturer of karaoke discs incorporating the compositions to which the plaintiffs held the copyright. The court upheld the award and finding of willful […] Continue Reading →
Eleventh Circuit: copyright in compilations of used boat listings infringed In a decision yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the finding of copyright infringement of a factual compilation, specifically a compilation of listings of used boats for sale. Most notably, the court held that the proper standard for infringement was the "substantially similar" test, rather than the "virtually identical" test sometimes used for factual compilations (most […] Continue Reading →
Sixth Circuit: Damages for copyright infringement available even if copies not actually used The Sixth Circuit issued a ruling that, by largely following the Second Circuit, clarifies the calculation of damages for copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) and 17 U.S.C. § 505 for infringing copies of software. Specifically, the court decided that unused infringing copies should still be included in actual damages, the use of the […] Continue Reading →
Digital compilation of magazine archives a privileged “revision” of a collective work In a decision today, the Eleventh Circuit held that the National Geographic Society, by its publication of "The Complete National Geographic," had not infringed the copyrights of a photographer whose photos appear in the various individual issues of National Geographic. The court held that the change from print to digital media was a "revision" as […] Continue Reading →
Fourth Circuit affirms refusal of copyright registration: insufficient creativity The Fourth Circuit yesterday affirmed the denial of copyright registration to an individual who had adapted United States Census maps for use on his website. The only changes to the maps were the addition of colors, changing the typeface of the state abbreviations, and a change in layout for some of the state indications. The […] Continue Reading →
Preliminary injunction against Google image search’s display of copyrighted images reversed In a lengthy and tech-heavy opinion [Update (12/4): the court has released an amended opinion, available here], the Ninth Circuit this week reversed a preliminary injunction against Google restricting its image search from displaying thumbnails of images copyrighted by Perfect 10, Inc. There are several aspects of the ruling of interest, such as: Holding that […] Continue Reading →
Ninth Circuit defines differences between derivative and collective works Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit decided a copyright case dealing with the differences between derivative and collective works. The defendant took photographs which were licensed to it individually by the plaintiff and, after the term of its license had expired, modified the photographs and integrated them into "collage" advertisements. The court held that these advertisements were […] Continue Reading →