Serial Copyright Plaintiff Lacks Standing to Enforce Third-Party Copyrights–Viral DRM v 7News
This case involves Viral DRM, which syndicates third-party videos of extreme weather events. It claims that 7News Australia downloaded videos from YouTube, stripped out the copyright management information (CMI), and incorporated the videos into its own videos that it uploaded…
TikTok Defeats Copyright Lawsuit Over Users’ Uploads–Waterman v. TikTok (Catch-Up Post)
This opinion from October just showed up in my Westlaw alerts. For some reason, it frequently takes Westlaw months to index C.D. Cal. opinions (noticeably longer than opinions from other districts). The plaintiff is a photographer who says her “work…
Big YouTube Channel Gets TRO Against Being Targeted by DMCA Copyright Takedown Notices–Invisible Narratives v. Next Level Apps
This case involves “Skibidi Toilet,” an animated video series that, as its title implies, targets a Gen Alpha audience. No, I had never heard of it before today; and no, I don’t plan to watch any shows with either the…
Copyright Owner Prevails in Lawsuit Over Form Contracts–Equine Legal v. Fireline Farms
🚨🚨 Calling all cyberlaw nerds: here is a bona fide “Law of the Horse” case. 🚨🚨 The plaintiff is an Oregon law firm practicing equine law. The defendant runs a Florida horse ranch. In 2016, the defendant licensed the plaintiff’s…
“Volitional Conduct” Doctrine Helps DistroKid Defeat Copyright Infringement Claim–White v. DistroKid
White created “beats” and got copyright registrations for them. He orally licensed the beats to Rivers for a 50% royalty and a promise to keep booking live performances for White. Rivers incorporated the beats into her album. White alleges that…
The Competition Between Temu and Shein Moves Into a Courtroom–Whaleco v. Shein
As you know, DMCA takedown notices and 512(f) can be, and regularly are, used as anti-competition tools. This time, the pugilists are fast-fashion marketplaces Shein and Temu. I imagine some of you want both of them to lose. Given that…
Some Comments on Today’s Thomson Reuters v. Ross Copyright Ruling
[A surprising ruling from Judge Bibas (sitting as a district court judge by designation) in the Thompson Reuters v. Ross case, because he reverses himself on numerous points (all in favor of the copyright owner). I sent the following comments…
Copyright Owners Are Still Suing Over Embedding
I thought the legality of embedding was definitively resolved when the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed the “server test” in the Hunley v. Instagram case (note: the 9th Circuit has reaffirmed Hunley twice). Not so. Plaintiffs are still regularly bringing lawsuits over…
Another N.D. Ill. Judge Balks at SAD Scheme Joinder–Zaful v. Schedule A Defendants
Zaful is an online retailer with a trademark that seemingly rhymes with…awful? It claims copyright in 1,800+ product shot photos and says TEMU merchants are infringing those product shots in their listings. (Longtime readers know how I feel about copyright…
512(c) Helps Vimeo Defeat the Record Labels. It Only Took 15 Years–Capitol v. Vimeo
This case is a throwback in every way. We rarely see lengthy (this one clocks in at 46 pages), detailed, and philosophical Section 512(c) opinions any more, and we only get this one because of the case’s extreme age. Capitol…