Features
<b><i>Online Extra</b></i><br> 9th Circuit 'Dancing Baby' Decision Will Stand
The Supreme Court let stand a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision that said issuers of takedown notices aren't liable under the DMCA unless they actually knew that the material did not infringe their copyright, or were willfully blind to that knowledge.
Columns & Departments
Supreme Court News
'Disparaging' Trademarks Decision<br>High Court Declines Takedown Notice/Fair Use Case
Columns & Departments
Bit Parts
Mash-Up of Dr. Seuss/Star Trek Components Is a Fair Use
Features
Drake Wins on Sampling Fair Use; Plaintiffs' Song Ownership Muddy
While copyright registration normally constitutes prima facie evidence of copyright ownership, the court noted that the estate had registered the song copyright 31 years after it was originally published and only in response to the defendants' sampling of the song on Drake's album.
Features
Supreme Court Won't Take 'Who's on First' Copyright Case
First the copyright infringement case over the use of Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First" routine in a Broadway play was dismissed by a New York federal judge. Then it rounded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, but was tagged out again. Now, in its third at bat, the lawsuit struck out with the U.S. Supreme Court declining to review the case.
Features
Angry Fed. Judge Throws Out Song Infringement Suit
A Miami company's decision to defend a small-potatoes copyright case all the way to trial paid off when the case was dismissed after a few hours — by an angry federal judge.
Features
Fourth Circuit to Weigh ISP Copyright Liability for Peer-to-Peer File Sharing by Subscribers
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is gearing up to hear argument in <i>BMG Rights Management v. Cox Communications</i>, one of the first attempts by the music industry to hold an ISP liable for unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing by its subscribers.
Features
Can Instagram Post of Photo Become Transformative?
An enlarged print of an Instagram post containing a copyrighted photo counts as a transformative use, an attorney for "appropriation artist" Richard Prince — whose use of other artists' material in his own works has made him no stranger to the courts — argued before a New York federal judge in April.
Features
Supreme Court Rules on Design of a Useful Article
Fashion, furniture, and other design-oriented companies will take note of the Supreme Court's recent decision in <i>Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc.</i>, which resolved a division among the federal circuits on the issue of the separability of designs of useful articles under the Copyright Act.
Features
<i>Decision of Note</i><br>Suit Seeking Public Doman Status for 'Buck Rogers' Can Move Forward
Team Angry Filmworks' lawsuit seeking public domain status for science fiction hero "Buck Rogers" adventures is set to blast off now that the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania denied a request to dismiss filed by the trust that licenses Rogers material.
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