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Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)

American University’s Washington College of Law, along with other academic contributors, has launched the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (the Code). This forty-plus page report, the goal of which is to assist professors, teachers, librarians, and other educators in evaluating when and how they can incorporate third party copyright […]

New Legislation: The CASE Act

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was passed by Congress on December 21, 2020 and signed into law on December 27, 2020 as a part of a much bigger omnibus spending bill. What Is It? The CASE Act creates a “Copyright Claims Board” (the Board) within the U.S. Copyright Office which can […]

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 […]

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Copyright Case Opinion Summaries

Source: Justia Daily Opinion Summaries (feed)

Markham Concepts, Inc. v. Hasbro, Inc.

Published on: June 22, 2023

In this copyright action involving ownership rights to the board game, “The Game of Life,” the First Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court denying attorney’s fees sought from the unsuccessful plaintiffs, holding that the distri…

DAVID LOWERY, ET AL V. RHAPSODY INTERNATIONAL, INC.

Published on: June 7, 2023

Counsel filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of copyright holders of musical compositions and recovered a little over $50,000 for the class members from Defendant Rhapsody International, Inc. (now rebranded as Napster), a music streaming s…

VHT, INC. V. ZILLOW GROUP, INC., ET AL

Published on: June 7, 2023

Thousands of copyrighted photos on Zillow’s site come from VHT, a professional real estate photography studio. Zillow used VHT’s photos on its real estate “Listing Platform,” which is the primary display of properties, and on a home design s…

JASON SCOTT COLLECTION, INC. V. TRENDILY FURNITURE, LLC, ET AL

Published on: May 30, 2023

Appellee Jason Scott Collection, Inc. (JSC) and Appellants Trendily Furniture, LLC, Trendily Home Collection, LLC and Rahul Malhotra (collectively, “Trendily”) are high-end furniture manufacturers that sell their products in the Texas market…

US v. Bijan Rafiekian

Published on: May 18, 2023

A jury convicted Defendant of one count of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and one count of criminal conspiracy. The district court granted a judgment of acquittal as to both charges and conditionally granted a new tr…

Copyright Case Dockets

Source: Justia Dockets and Filings (feed)

Style Chicks, LLC v. Pinch of Colour, LLC et al

June 23, 2023

Filed: June 23, 2023 as 1:2023cv04701

Plaintiff: Style Chicks, LLC

Defendant: Pinch of Colour, LLC and Linda Treska

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 501 Copyright Infringement

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

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 98.37.137.130

June 22, 2023

Filed: June 22, 2023 as 5:2023cv03078

Plaintiff: Strike 3 Holdings, LLC

Defendant: John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 98.37.137.130

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

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

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 108.201.184.167

June 22, 2023

Filed: June 22, 2023 as 5:2023cv03076

Plaintiff: Strike 3 Holdings, LLC

Defendant: John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 108.201.184.167

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

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

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 23.126.177.109

June 22, 2023

Filed: June 22, 2023 as 3:2023cv03075

Plaintiff: Strike 3 Holdings, LLC

Defendant: John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 23.126.177.109

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

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

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Strike 3 Holdings, LLC v. John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 172.15.9.33

June 22, 2023

Filed: June 22, 2023 as 4:2023cv03080

Plaintiff: Strike 3 Holdings, LLC

Defendant: John Doe subscriber assigned IP address 172

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

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

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Copyright Legislation

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

Copyright Legislative Developments: S.835 & H.R.1631

March 31, 2023

Bills Recently Introduced

S.835 - Pro Codes Act, introduced 03/16/2023.

To amend title 17, United States Code, to reaffirm the importance of, and include requirements for, works incorporated by reference into law, and for other purposes.

H.R.1631 - Pro Codes Act, introduced 03/17/2023.

To amend title 17, United States Code, to reaffirm the importance of, and include requirements for, works incorporated by reference into law, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments: H.R.791

March 2, 2023

Bill Recently Introduced

H.R.791 - American Music Fairness Act of 2023, introduced 02/02/2023.

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments: S.253

February 17, 2023

Bill Recently Introduced

S.253 - American Music Fairness Act , introduced 02/02/2023.

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments: H.R.576

February 10, 2023

Bill Recently Introduced

H.R.576 - Copyright Clause Restoration Act of 2023, introduced 1/26/2023.

To address the duration of copyright, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments: H.R.7776

December 23, 2022

Bill Signed Into Law

H.R.7776 - James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (Includes sec. 6306: Copyright protection for civilian faculty of the National Intelligence University). December 23, 2022.

Copyright Office News

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

U.S. Copyright Office Announces Start of Ninth Triennial Rulemaking Proceeding Under Section 1201

June 8, 2023

U.S. Copyright Office Announces Start of Ninth Triennial Rulemaking Proceeding Under Section 1201 NewsNet 1008June 8, 2023 The Copyright Office has published a notice of inquiry and request for petitions initiating the ninth triennial rulemaking proceeding under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Copyright Office Announces Online Webinar on Application Process for Registration of Works with Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content

June 1, 2023

Copyright Office Announces Online Webinar on Application Process for Registration of Works with Artificial Intelligence-Generated Content NewsNet 1007June 1, 2023 Today, the U.S. Copyright Office is announcing a virtual, public webinar on June 28, 2023, on current Office guidance related to applying

Copyright Office Issues Interim Rule on Secure Tests Affected by COVID-19

June 1, 2023

Copyright Office Issues Interim Rule on Secure Tests Affected by COVID-19 NewsNet 1006June 01, 2023 The Copyright Office has published an interim rule that continues its existing interim rule addressing eligibility for its special registration procedure for “secure tests.” During the COVID-19 emerge

U.S. Copyright Office Issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Agreement-Based Counterclaims Before the Copyright Claims Board

May 3, 2023

U.S. Copyright Office Issues a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Regarding Agreement-Based Counterclaims Before the Copyright Claims Board NewsNet 1005May 3, 2023 The Copyright Office issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding Copyright Claims Board procedures governing “agreement-based” countercl

Copyright Office Launches New Artificial Intelligence Initiative

March 16, 2023

Copyright Office Launches New Artificial Intelligence Initiative NewsNet 1004March 16, 2023 Today, the U.S. Copyright Office launches a new initiative to examine the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI), including the scope of copyright in works generated using AI t

Copyright Regulations

Source: Justia Regulation Tracker (feed)

Notice - Notice of Intent To Audit

April 10, 2023

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of notice of intent to audit the 2020, 2021, and 2022 statements of account submitted by commercial webcaster licensee Salem Media Group concerning royalty payments it made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

Notice - Distribution of 2020 Cable Royalty Funds

March 22, 2023

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on a motion of Allocation Phase claimants for partial distribution of 2020 cable royalty funds.

Notice - Distribution of 2020 Satellite Royalty Funds

March 22, 2023

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on a motion of Allocation Phase claimants for partial distribution of 2020 satellite royalty funds.

Notice - Notice of Intent To Audit

February 7, 2023

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of notice of intent to audit the 2020, 2021, and 2022 statements of account submitted by commercial webcaster licensee Sonos Radio concerning royalty payments it made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

Proposed Rule - Determination of Rates and Terms for Public Broadcasting (PB IV)

January 26, 2023

The Copyright Royalty Judges solicit comments on proposed rates and terms for use of certain works in connection with noncommercial broadcasting for the period from January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2027.

Copyright Blogs

Source: Justia BlawgSearch (feed)

Saturday Sundries

June 24, 2023

Summer has officially started, and here are the latest news and events.Advocate General Medina’s Opinion A Kat looking for new IP opportunitiesImage via Pexels The IPKat is happy [while Merpel is a little bit jealous] to see its name cited in Advocate General Medina’s Opinion (22nd June 2023) in rel

#MajeMyDogandI: No copyright protection for a selfie in the lift

June 23, 2023

The issue of copyright protection in photographic works is a classic one. Throughout the years, it has featured in plenty of case law [e.g. here, here and here]. A recent decision of the Paris Court of Appeal provides a new illustration. More specifically, the dispute in question concerned copyright

Friday’s Endnotes – 06/23/23

June 23, 2023

Copyright Claims Board Celebrates First Anniversary Without a Troll Party — “When the Copyright Claims Board was first introduced, there was quite a lot of pushback. Several opponents feared that ‘copyright trolls’ would abuse the system to launch a wave of claims against alleged online pirates. Tha

Mathematical shapes and intellectual property – a legal perspective on the "einstein tile"

June 23, 2023

Former Guest Kat Peter Ling brings us a fascinating discussion about the overlap of two dimensional geometric planes and intellectual property. Sadly, this former GuestKat lacks absolutely basic DIY skills to enable him to tile his own bathroom floor. He has nonetheless been long fascinated by vario

Copyright in Flight Cockpit Recordings

June 22, 2023

A recent case filed with the Copyright Claims Board examines an unusual question: Who holds the copyright to a cockpit flight recorder? The post Copyright in Flight Cockpit Recordings appeared first on Plagiarism Today.

Fairly Used Blog

Source: Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center (feed)

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)

By Cicely Wilson

Published on: June 10, 2021

New Legislation: The CASE Act

By Cicely Wilson

Published on: June 7, 2021

Celebrating the unfreezing of the public domain

By Mary Minow

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 […]