Follow Us
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
In Dr. Seuss Enterprises L.P. v. ComicMix LLC, 983 F.3d 443 (2020), a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in December that ComicMix’s illustrated book combining elements of several Dr. Seuss children’s books with characters, themes and other features of the popular sci-fi series Star Trek was not a fair use of the Seuss material from which it had admittedly been “slavishly” copied. The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded the district court’s determination of fair use and grant of summary judgment to ComicMix. (See our May 24, 2019 article in the New York Law Journal, “‘Mash-Up’ of Dr. Seuss and Star Trek Held Fair Use,” discussing the district court’s decision.) The Ninth Circuit found that all four fair use factors set forth in §107 of the Copyright Act favored Dr. Seuss Enterprises. In particular, the Ninth Circuit found that ComicMix’s use was not transformative and that it would cause significant market harm to the plaintiff.
Continue reading by getting
started with a subscription.
By Stan Soocher
Can the settlement of a lawsuit by one profit participant in a TV production be used to increase the contingent compensation provisions of other profit participants in the show?
In-House Counsel Perspective on Negotiating Social Media Influencer Contracts
By Chris O’Malley
With the FTC amping up its scrutiny in the social media influencer space, in-house counsel has an opportunity to mitigate risk and help their companies get more bang for their influencer marketing buck.
Pursuing AI Programmers and Third Parties over Alleged Rights Violations Caused by AI Software
By Jonathan Bick
Because AIs are capable of causing harm but cannot be a legal entity, they are not held accountable by court action. Several current and future possibilities exist to resolve AI difficulties. Current options involve identifying indirect liability. Future options include but are not limited to changing the law to make an AI a legal person and/or changing the law to make AI programing an ultra-hazardous activity.
By Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable recent court filings in entertainment law.
Copyright © ALM Global, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
