Posts in Copyright Litigation
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 …
Eighth Circuit Affirms Holding That Disclosure of Source Code Was Authorized Under the Parties’ Agreement
On August 14, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed in part and vacated in part a district court decision in MPAY Inc. v. …
Will the Supreme Court Provide the Fair Use Clarity that IP Law Needs?
On July 30, IP Watchdog Editor-in-Chief Eileen McDermott reported that, as part of its series on a 1990s copyright modernization bill known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, …
Ninth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Copyright Infringement Claim Against Disney’s Inside Out Movie
On August 3, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Masterson v. Walt Disney Company, affirmed a district court’s dismissal of Carla Masterson’…
Google v. Oracle Perspective: Google’s Android ‘Cheat Code’ was to Copy Oracle’s Code
In two months, the Supreme Court will hear the oral argument in the long-running Google v. Oracle software copyright case. At issue is the availability of copyright …
Request for Amici: Tell SCOTUS to Incentivize Original Fictional Characters through Copyright
Some fictional characters are heroes; others are villains. Some mimic reality and others personify fantasy. And some appear in comic books and video games, while others in …
Second Circuit Affirms Welsh Government Advertising Activity Triggered Exception to Sovereign Immunity
On June 8, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in Pablo Star Ltd. V, Welsh Gov’t, affirmed a decision of the U.S. …
Second Circuit Joins Ninth Circuit Approach to Assessing Individual Copyright Claims in Group Registrations
On May 12, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a decision in Sohm v. Scholastic in which the appellate court reversed in part …
Copyright Lawyers on SCOTUS Decision in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org: Expected, But Possibly Problematic
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Georgia et al. v. Public.Resource.Org., Inc. that a state code revision commission cannot claim copyright protection …
Supreme Court Says State Code Revision Commissions Are Not Authors for Copyright Purposes
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s decision that a state code revision commission cannot claim …
A Cosmic Copyright Conundrum: ‘Star Trek,’ Space Force, SCOTUS and Blackbeard’s Shipwreck
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling in Allen v. Cooper, which relates to photos and videos of the sunken remains of the Queen …
Supreme Court Says State of North Carolina is No Copyright Pirate in Blackbeard Ruling
Blackbeard and his band of pirates pillaged and plundered up and down North Carolina’s Outer Banks more than 300 years ago, inspiring stories (both true and fictional) …
