Balough
November 1, 2017
(November 1, 2017) A United Kingdom company sending a single newsletter to a small number of recipients in California where the company has no customers is not sufficient to maintain a copyright infringement lawsuit in the United States. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the case brought by Axion Foods, Inc. and Growing Naturals, […]
Balough
June 8, 2017
(June 8, 2017) Placing copyrighted materials on a website does not justify an inference that an alleged infringer accessed the materials, especially when the materials are not strikingly similar, the Seventh Circuit found. The case involved whether a homebuilder infringed copyrighted home plans. The appellate court said the home-plan field was “crowded,” making it difficult […]
Balough
March 24, 2017
(March 25, 2017) Fashion designers might be able to stitch together copyright protection for their clothing thanks to the Supreme Court. In a divided decision, the Supreme Court granted copyright protection to cheerleading uniforms because the chevrons, curves, stripes, angles, diagonals, and shapes are conceptually separate from the “utilitarian function” of the uniform. This result […]
Balough
August 14, 2016
(August 14, 2016) Culver may have had a cow over Steak n Shake’s copycat television commercial, but a federal judge found the original commercial lacked “the necessary modicum of creativity to give rise to copyright protection” required for a copyright infringement lawsuit. Culver Franchising System, Inc. developed a commercial with a white-aproned butcher touting the quality […]
Balough
June 3, 2016
(June 3, 2016) If you are going to sample notes from a sound recording, do it in LA not Nashville to avoid an infringement claim. The Ninth Circuit found no copyright infringement with Madonna’s recording of Vogue because the song’s use of 0.23 second of a horn hit from a recording of Ooh I Love […]
Balough
October 9, 2015
(October 9, 2015) A sequence of twenty-six yoga poses and two breathing exercises by Bikram Choudhury is not copyrightable because it is an unprotected system or idea. The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court ruling throwing out a lawsuit brought by the self-proclaimed “Yogi to the stars.” According to the appellate court, Choudhury developed over […]
Balough
September 22, 2015
(September 22, 2015) Naruto is not monkeying around with his famous selfie. The crested macaque who gained world-wide fame with his monkey selfies has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against David Slater, the photographer whose camera was used to take the picture, and his publisher. Actually, the lawsuit was filed by the People for the […]
