Using a CDN May Contribute to Finding Personal Jurisdiction–R18 v. ThisAV
The plaintiff runs R18, a Japanese-focused adult site. It has US copyright registrations for 50k+ videos. The defendant runs ThisAV, which the court describes as a Japanese-language video-hosting service. When I visited ThisAV (NSFW) this morning, it self-described (via Google…
11th Circuit UPHOLDS a 512(f) Plaintiff Win on Appeal–Alper Automotive v. Day to Day Imports
I’m going on a limb and saying that I believe this is the first appellate court upholding a 512(f) plaintiff win. The closest plaintiffs have gotten in the past is the Ninth Circuit’s Lenz case, which had plaintiff-favorable language but…
The Ninth Circuit Reaffirms the Discovery Rule for the Copyright Act’s Statute of Limitations — Starz v. MGM (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Eleven days ago, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed that: (1) the discovery rule of accrual applies to the Copyright Act’s three-year statute of limitations; and (2) when the discovery rule applies, the copyright owner is not…
A First Look at Copyright Claims Board (CCB) Filings
Today marks the 1-month anniversary of the Copyright Claims Board, so I thought it’s a good opportunity to take a very quick snapshot of the filings we’ve seen so far. My dataset. Number of Filings. The CCB has received 58…
Section 230 Doesn’t Create a Cause of Action–Goodman v. Sharp
The underlying dispute involved a copyright and trademark enforcement action against Goodman over a parody/satire video. The court summarizes Goodman’s arguments in this collateral lawsuit: Plaintiff alleges that Defendants abused process and engaged in attorney misconduct when the Academies sued…
Court Quashes 512(h) Subpoena on First Amendment Grounds–In re 512(h) Subpoena to Twitter
This case involves a pseudonymous Twitter account, “@CallMeMoneyBags.” The account tweeted some remarks, including photos, critical of billionaire Brian Sheth. Soon after, an entity called Bayside asserted copyright ownership of the photos and sent 512(c)(3) takedown notices to Twitter followed…
Third Circuit Declares Copyright Independence for Fireworks Systems–Pyrotechnics v. XFX
This case involves copyright protection for fireworks systems–a relevant topic for July 4th! 🎆 Pyrotechnics (under the “FireOne” brand) claims to be the “world leader in digital pyrotechnic firing systems.” The system involves a central unit, field modules, and software…
Quick Links from the Past Year, Part 2 (Copyright)
* Hebenstreit v. Merchants Bank of Indiana, 1:18-cv-00056-JPH-DLP (S.D. Ind. Aug. 26, 2021). A photo of the Indianapolis nighttime skyline has generated $825 in license fees & $135k in settlements. After 3+ yrs of litigation, court awards Bell $200 in…
The Copyright Claims Board Is Opening Next Week. Are You Excited?
The Copyright Office has completed its initial rulemaking for the new copyright “small claims” court called the “Copyright Claims Board” (the CCB). It has also launched a website with explanatory material. This post will round up what we know about…
Can Tattoos Infringe Copyrights, and If So, What Happens Then?–Sedlik v. Kat Von D
Can tattoos infringe copyrights, and if yes, what remedies are appropriate? This is a venerable question–I remember evaluating it as a possible law review note topic 30+ years ago. This opinion is the first I can recall that answers the…