Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
In the September issue, we reported on the U.S. Supreme Court's grant of certiorari in Unicolors v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 959 F.3d 1194 (9th Cir. 2020) (Unicolors) for the October 2021 term, docket no. 20-915. Briefing was completed in mid-October (briefs can be found at www.scotusblog.com) and oral argument was held November 8 (recording available at www.c-span.org). This article describes some of the major issues the court addressed in that argument, and will identify some questions that are likely to remain open no matter the outcome.
The issue in Unicolors is a pure question of statutory construction. 17 U.S.C. §411(b) states:
On its face, the language in §411(b) commands that where information is included on an application for registration "with knowledge that it was inaccurate" the court "shall" seek the advice of the Copyright Office in every case in which such inaccurate information "is alleged." But prior to the Ninth Circuit ruling now on appeal in Unicolors, a number of courts had grafted a degree of discretion onto the statutory language, leaving it to the district court to determine, inter alia, whether there were sufficient indicia of fraudulent intent on the applicant's part to warrant soliciting the view of the Copyright Office. This interpretation is arguably consistent with the origin of the statutory language, which was added to the Act in 2008 as part of the so-called PRO IP Act; the Copyright Office annual report for that year states that this legislation "amended section 411 of the copyright law to codify the doctrine of fraud on the Copyright Office." The Eleventh Circuit, inter alia, agreed in Roberts v. Gordy, 877 F.3d 1024 (2017), requiring a showing of "intentional or purposeful concealment of relevant information" before consulting the Copyright Office under §411(b). The Ninth Circuit rejected this intent-based approach.
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
With trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.