Posts in Copyright Litigation
The New Copyright Small Claims Board Presents Problems for Copyright Owners and Small Businesses
Creative people need a quick, efficient and inexpensive way to recover damages for copyright infringement. They need a place to submit their charge of infringement and collect …
Mechanical Licensing Collective’s $424.4 Million Unmatched Royalty Collection Highlights Music Modernization Act’s Limited Liability Compromise
On February 16, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) – a nonprofit organization designated by the U.S. Copyright Office to administer blanket mechanical licenses to eligible streaming and download …
UK Judge Backs Meghan Markle over Leaked Letter
The actor Meghan Markle gained fame playing a paralegal in the TV show Suits. Now, as Her Royal Highness, The Duchess of Sussex, she is starring in …
Minaj-Chapman Copyright Settlement is a Warning to Artists
Last week, documents were filed confirming that singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman accepted Onika Tanya Maraj’s (who performs rap under the stage name Nicki Minaj) Rule 68 Offer of …
The Copyright Top Five of 2020
From the Google v. Oracle arguments to Congress’ year-long discussion around reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 2020 was a big one for copyright law. A …
U.S. and EU Copyright Law Developments Reviewed at INTA Annual Meeting
Last week, during the International Trademark Association's (INTA's) all-virtual 2020 Annual Meeting & Leadership Meeting, panelists Naomi Jane Gray, Axel Nordemann and Catherine Zaller Rowland discussed perspectives in Copyright …
Copyright for Choreography: When is Copying a Dance a Copyright Violation?
Recent news reports about choreographer JaQuel Knight’s efforts to copyright some of his iconic dance routines, such as Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies,” are a reminder that …
Skidmore Seeks a Second Chance at SCOTUS in Led Zeppelin Copyright Case
On October 30, Michael Skidmore, Trustee for the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust, filed a petition for rehearing of the denial of its August 6 petition for writ of certiorari …
Google v. Oracle: The High Court Holds the Future of IP in Its Hands
In what many regard as the intellectual property case of the century, the United States Supreme Court has—on October 7, 2020—presided over oral arguments in Google v. …
Justices Look for Reassurance That the Sky Won’t Fall When They Rule in Google v. Oracle
Google and Oracle each got to have their say in U.S. Supreme Court today, when eight justices heard oral argument in the closely-watched battle between the …
California Court’s Finding of Fair Use for Nicki Minaj Affirms Public Benefit of Artistic Experimentation
In a ruling earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips of the Central District of California granted partial summary judgment in favor of Onika …
Google’s Fair Use Shell Game
Google has admitted it copied over 11,000 lines of Oracle’s creative Java code to build its Android smartphone platform, that it makes commercial use of the code …
Ninth Circuit Holds that Jersey Boys Did Not Infringe ‘Protected Expressive Elements’ of Autobiographical Book
Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a decision on appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of …
Google: An Oracle of Wisdom in its Fascinating Submission to the European Commission
On June 2, the European Commission launched a far-reaching consultation as part of its examination of a forthcoming Digital Services Act (DSA), aimed at identifying areas where new …
‘Merger’ and Acquisition: Google’s Copyright Contortion to Excuse Copying
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral argument on October 7 from Oracle and Google in their long-running Java intellectual property case. The questions raised in Google …
