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Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates

Q: Thank you for updating the copyright overview on this site. What are the most important changes that you want us to know? A: Because the update reflects changes from 2014 through 2016 it includes a few decisions that readers may be familiar with such as the Google book scanning decision (Author’s Guild v. Hathitrust, […]

How much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement? Hint: Cheshire Cat

Bloggers and artists often ask, “how much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement?” Five changes? Fifteen? The Seventh Circuit addressed the issue in the Kienitz v Sconnie Nation case recently. According to the court, Sconnie Nation made t-shirts displaying an image of Madison Wisconsin mayor Paul Soglin, using […]

Guidance on websites and copyright registration from the U.S. Copyright Office

As part of its new draft Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition, we have guidance on registration for websites. The draft of the full compendium is over 1200 pages and covers publication, recordation, notice, deposits, along with other topics. Members of the public may make comments anytime before (or after) the Third Edition […]

Who’s the Owner: A White Paper on “Improving Copyright Information Management: An Investigation of Options and Areas for Further Research”

The U.S. Copyright Office came to Stanford Law School yesterday to conduct a roundtable on Recordation Reengineering, The Stanford Law School Law and Policy Lab submitted comments and a thoughtful White Paper, and live tweeted the proceeding along with us (see @slspolicylab and @fairlyused). The Law and Policy Lab was represented at the roundtable by Peter Holm, third year law […]

Deadline: April 14th. Public invited to weigh in on orphan works – US Copyright Office

ORPHAN WORKS is red hot again. After a number of failed legislative attempts and a couple of high profile court cases, its back to the drawing board, albeit a better defined drawing board. On the one hand, most everyone agrees that for true orphans, it would be great for us all to be able to […]

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Copyright Case Opinion Summaries

Source: Justia Daily Opinion Summaries (feed)

Cambridge University Press v. Albert

Published on: October 19, 2018

Plaintiffs, three publishing houses, alleged that members of the Board of Regents at GSU infringed their copyrights by maintaining a policy which allows GSU professors to make digital copies of excerpts of plaintiffs’ books available to stud…

Code Revision Commissioner v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc.

Published on: October 19, 2018

The annotations contained in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA), authored by the Georgia General Assembly and made an inextricable part of the official codification of Georgia’s laws, may not be copyrighted by the State of Georgia…

Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin

Published on: September 28, 2018

The Ninth Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment for Led Zeppelin in a copyright infringement suit alleging that Led Zeppelin copied “Stairway to Heaven” from the song “Taurus,” written by Spirit band member Randy Wolfe. The panel hel…

SoundExchange, Inc. v. Copyright Royalty Board and Librarian of Congress

Published on: September 18, 2018

Plaintiffs challenged the Copyright Royalty Board’s most recent determination for rates noninteractive webcasters must pay to play recordings over the Internet under a statutory copyright license. The DC Circuit sustained the Board’s determi…

SoundExchange, Inc. v. Copyright Royalty Board and Librarian of Congress

Published on: September 18, 2018

Copyright Case Dockets

Source: Justia Dockets and Filings (feed)

Melissa Scott v. Bobbi Jones et al

October 18, 2018

Filed: October 18, 2018 as 5:2018cv02219

Defendant: Michael Evans, Bobbi Jones, Tina Pereida

Plaintiff: Melissa Scott

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Ninth Circuit › California › California Central District Court

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Martinka v. PennWell Corporation

October 18, 2018

Filed: October 18, 2018 as 4:2018cv00541

Plaintiff: Paul Martinka

Defendant: PennWell Corporation

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Tenth Circuit › Oklahoma › Oklahoma Northern District Court

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Hirsch v. Barstool Sports, Inc.

October 18, 2018

Filed: October 18, 2018 as 1:2018cv09579

Defendant: Barstool Sports, Inc.

Plaintiff: Steven Hirsch

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Second Circuit › New York › New York Southern District Court

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Charles R. Gracie & Sons, Inc. v. Frontgate Marketing, Inc. et al

October 18, 2018

Filed: October 18, 2018 as 1:2018cv09576

Plaintiff: Charles R. Gracie & Sons, Inc.

Defendant: Frontgate Marketing, Inc., Cornerstone Brands Limited

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Second Circuit › New York › New York Southern District Court

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

RUSTED ROCK BARN LLC v. RUSSELL TISDALE CONSTRUCTION LLC et al

October 18, 2018

Filed: October 18, 2018 as 4:2018cv03889

Defendant: RUSSELL TISDALE CONSTRUCTION LLC, SADDLE CREEK WEDDINGS LLC, BRAD SCHREIBER and others

Plaintiff: RUSTED ROCK BARN LLC

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Fifth Circuit › Texas › Texas Southern District Court

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Copyright Legislation

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

S.2454

June 10, 2014

Satellite Television Access Reauthorization Act of 2014

H.R.4772

May 29, 2014

Respecting Senior Performers as Essential Cultural Treasures Act

S.2321

May 12, 2014

Songwriter Equity Act of 2014

H.R.4572

May 6, 2014

STELA Reauthorization Act of 2014

S.2045

February 26, 2014

American Royalties Too Act of 2014

Copyright Office News

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

Copyright NewsNet Issue 540

April 22, 2018

Reminder: Copyright Matters World IP Day Program TOMORROW (April 23)

Copyright NewsNet Issue 539

April 16, 2018

Not to Be Missed: Filmmakers at World IP Day Program

Copyright NewsNet Issue 538

April 10, 2018

Movies: A Global Passion

Copyright NewsNet Issue 537

April 4, 2018

Copyright NewsNet Issue 536

April 3, 2018

Copyright Regulations

Source: Justia Regulation Tracker (feed)

Proposed Rule - Mandatory Deposit of Electronic-Only Books

April 16, 2018

Section 407 of the Copyright Act requires the mandatory deposit with the Copyright Office (``Office'') of all works published in the United States, within three months of publication, for use by the Library of Congress (``Library''). The Office is allowed to exclude certain classes of works from thi

Proposed Rule - Streamlining the Single Application and Clarifying Eligibility Requirements

February 6, 2018

On December 16, 2017, the U.S. Copyright Office released a new version of the Single Application, an online registration option that allows a single author to register a claim in one work that is solely owned by the same author and is not a work made for hire. The new Single Application includes enh

Proposed Rule - Exemptions To Permit Circumvention of Access Controls on Copyrighted Works: Notice of Public Hearings

February 2, 2018

The United States Copyright Office will be holding public hearings as part of the seventh triennial rulemaking proceeding under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (``DMCA'') concerning possible exemptions to the DMCA's prohibition against circumvention of technological measures that control access

Rule - Group Registration of Newspapers

January 30, 2018

The U.S. Copyright Office is amending its regulation governing the group registration option for newspapers. The final rule will make a number of changes to reflect current Office practices, improve the efficiency of the registration process, and encourage broader participation in the registration s

Notice - Notice of Intent To Audit

January 22, 2018

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt of three notices of intent to audit the 2013, 2014, and 2015 statements of account submitted by commercial webcaster and broadcaster Alpha Media LLC and by commercial webcasters Google Inc. and Music Choice \1\ concerning royalty payments each made pursu

Copyright Articles

Source: SSRN (feed)

Functionality in U.S. Design Patent & Community Design Law

May 5, 2016

Research Handbook on Design Law, Forthcoming Jason J. Du Mont and Max Planck Institute for Intellectual Property & Competition Law and Indiana University Maurer School of Law Accepted Paper Series 2 downloads

Lenz v. Universal: A Call to Reform Section 512(f) of the DMCA and to Strengthen Fair Use

May 3, 2016

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law, Vol. 18, No. 3, 2016 Accepted Paper Series 34 downloads

GIFs as Quotations Under EU Copyright Law

May 3, 2016

National Law University Jodhpur (NLUJ) Working Paper Series 4 downloads

Writing Fan Fiction and Copyright Infringement Under New Zealand Law

May 3, 2016

Victoria University of Wellington Legal Research Paper, Student/Alumni Paper No. 1/2016 Victoria University of Wellington - Victoria University of Wellington, Students/Alumni Accepted Paper Series 2 downloads

The Problem of Creative Collaboration

May 2, 2016

William & Mary Law Review, Vol. 58, 2017 Anthony J. Casey and University of Chicago Law School and University of Miami - School of Law Accepted Paper Series 8 downloads

Copyright Blogs

Source: Justia BlawgSearch (feed)

DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

October 19, 2018

To: Google LLC From: AudioLock.NET

DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

October 19, 2018

To: Google LLC From: IFPI

DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

October 19, 2018

To: Google LLC From: SARKARI GURU

DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

October 19, 2018

To: Google LLC From: Marketly llc

DMCA (Copyright) Complaint to Google

October 19, 2018

To: Google LLC From: BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Ltd

Fairly Used Blog

Source: Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center (feed)

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates

By Mary Minow

Published on: April 11, 2017

Future of Libraries – Need First Sale for ebooks

By Mary Minow

Published on: February 19, 2017

How will libraries hold onto ebooks and other digital files like mp3s so that readers and scholars in the future can still read them? The current state of affairs relies on license agreements with publishers who in turn license to vendors, who in turn, license to libraries. Hardly sustainable when files can and do disappear […]

protect your site from copyright lawsuits

By Mary Minow

Published on: November 16, 2016

Everyone who thought they were protected from copyright lawsuits based on user postings, read this and take action on December 1st 2016 and no later than December 2017. lawofthelevel.com/2016/11/articles/intellectual-property/dont-lose-dmca-safe-harbor-protection/

Happy Birthday – ruling plus full court docket filings

By Mary Minow

Published on: September 25, 2015

Justia has made the full docket of legal filings in the Happy Birthday case available for free online at https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/cacdce/2:2013cv04460/564772

How much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement? Hint: Cheshire Cat

By Mary Minow

Published on: December 22, 2014