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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)

Hiller, LLC v. Success Group International Learning Alliance, LLC

Published on: September 23, 2020

In 1999, Hiller, the largest home-services company in Tennessee, became a paying “member” of Success Group, which offers management advice and customer-service training to home-services companies. Clockwork owned Success, which conducted tra…

Batiste v. Lewis

Published on: September 22, 2020

Paul Batiste, a local jazz musician, brought a copyright infringement action against the world-famous hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. After the district court found no evidence of copyrighting, it granted summary judgment for defendants…

Batiste v. Lewis

Published on: September 22, 2020

Corbello v. Vallli

Published on: September 8, 2020

Four Seasons front man Frankie Valli and other defendants associated with Jersey Boys did not infringe Rex Woodard’s copyright in the autobiography of Tommy DeVito, now owned by Donna Corbello, Woodard’s surviving wife.

The Ninth Circuit a…

ECIMOS, LLC v. Carrier Corp.

Published on: August 21, 2020

Carrier manufactures residential Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. ECIMOS produced the quality-control system that tested completed HVAC units at the end of Carrier’s assembly line. ECIMOS alleged that Carrier infri…

Copyright Case Dockets

Source: Justia Dockets and Filings (feed)

Schwabel v. True Nature Education Inc.

October 19, 2020

Filed: October 19, 2020 as 1:2020cv00300

Defendant: True Nature Education Inc.

Plaintiff: Thomas Schwabel

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Fourth Circuit › North Carolina › US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

AAYIOMAMITIS v. NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY

October 19, 2020

Filed: October 19, 2020 as 1:2020cv02985

Plaintiff: ANTHONY AYIOMAMITIS

Defendant: NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: D.C. Circuit › District of Columbia › US District Court for the District of Columbia

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Reiffer v. Interface Masters Technologies, Inc.

October 19, 2020

Filed: October 19, 2020 as 3:2020cv07311

Plaintiff: Paul Reiffer

Defendant: Interface Masters Technologies, Inc.

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Ninth Circuit › California › US District Court for the Northern District of California

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

PHILPOT v. MUSTARD SEED MEDIA, LLC et al

October 19, 2020

Filed: October 19, 2020 as 1:2020cv02712

Plaintiff: LARRY G. PHILPOT

Defendant: MUSTARD SEED MEDIA, LLC, THE PROSPER GROUP CORPORATION

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Seventh Circuit › Indiana › US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Yesh Music, LLC v. Brain and Body Company, LLC

October 19, 2020

Filed: October 19, 2020 as 1:2020cv08687

Defendant: Brain and Body Company, LLC

Plaintiff: Yesh Music, LLC

Cause Of Action: Copyright Infringement

Court: Second Circuit › New York › US District Court for the Southern District of New York

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Published on: January 30, 2019

For the first time in twenty years, published works in the U.S. expired into the public domain. This anomaly was the direct result of the Copyright Term Extension Act that extended the length of copyright for works still in their renewal term at the time of the Act to 95 years. This effectively froze the […]

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