Copyright Lawsuits Over Product Shots Are Stupid–eTrailer v. Automatic Equipment
The plaintiff is a retailer of “motor vehicle accessories.” The defendant manufactures towing supplies and has previously distributed its goods to the plaintiff. The plaintiff created product shots and obtained copyright registrations for some of them. On the right is…
Recap of the Copyright Office’s Section 512 Study Roundtable
On Monday, I participated in a Copyright Office roundtable regarding their long-delayed report on Section 512. The roundtable was intended to update the study’s record from 2017, when progress stalled on the report. Thus, the topic nominally was to discuss…
How Have Section 512(f) Cases Fared Since 2017? (Spoiler: Not Well)
On Monday, I’m participating in a Copyright Office workshop on Section 512. The workshop supports the Copyright Office’s long-pending Section 512 report, which started in 2015 but stalled out in 2017. To freshen up the project, the workshop will cover…
Blogger’s Screenshot of a Newspaper Page Qualifies as Fair Use–Clark v. TransAlt
The photo at issue depicts a dockless bike on a sidewalk. The New York Post published an article on dockless bikes and included the photo. You can get a sense of that story from my screenshot of the NY Post…
New Paper Announcement: “Copyright’s Memory Hole”
I’m pleased to announce a new paper, “Copyright’s Memory Hole,” co-authored with Northeastern Law professor Jessica Silbey. The paper is still in draft form, and Jessica and I plan to do a major edit to the paper this summer. So…
Copyright Registration, Publication on the Internet, and the Revolving “Back Door to Berne” (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble Localization – the determination of where persons and things are deemed to be located and events are deemed to happen – is important for many legal purposes; decisions concerning personal jurisdiction and choice of applicable…
Ruling in Emoji Beach Ball IP Case Left Me Confused 😕–Kangaroo v. Amazon
This case involves the alleged counterfeiting of emoji beach balls on Amazon. It doesn’t get into emoji-specific IP issues and devolves into a garbled tangle over Amazon marketplace product catalog issues. Still, EMOJI LAW ALERT!!! 😲 The plaintiff makes emoji…
More Kardashian Drama: A Legal Fight Over Ownership of the Kimoji Emoji Set–Liebensohn v. Kardashian (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Gabriella Ziccarelli [Eric’s introductory note: I have made a personal life choice to ignore the entire Kardashian enterprise and their constant and often faux drama (except that I have occasionally mocked the Kardashians in my law school…
Supreme Court Requires Completed Copyright Registration Before Filing Suit–Fourth Estate Public Benefit v. Wall-Street (Guest Blog Post)
Guest Blog Post by Tyler Ochoa On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, No. 17-571, 139 S.Ct. ____, 2019 U.S. LEXIS 1730. The case involved the interpretation of section 411(a) of the…
It’s Really Hard to Win a Motion to Dismiss Based on 512(c)–Myeress v. Buzzfeed
512(c) and 230 diverge in key procedural respects, including the implications of scienter for motions to dismiss. Section 230(c)(1) has no scienter standards, so defendants can win on motions to dismiss despite virtually any scienter allegations. In contrast, Section 512(c)’s…