USA articles related to:
Can a photographer own a copyright on a scene in the news and history?
Duane Morris LLP - USA -
January 16 2013
Can a photograph that becomes linked with history or news be protected from imitation? The First Circuit Appeals says that the answer is "no". The…
Harney v. Sony Pictures Television, Inc.
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- May 18 2011
District court rejects photographer’s copyright infringement claim relating to plaintiff’s photograph of a person who was the subject of defendants’ made-for-television movie.
Photographer claims made-for-TV movie infringes his copyrighted photo
- Arent Fox LLP
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- USA
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- October 13 2010
In the summer of 2008, a man using the name Clark Rockefeller abducted his daughter Reigh and fled Massachusetts.
Copyright: some very recent cases you should know about
- Reed Smith LLP
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- USA
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- August 4 2011
Unless they were decided by the Supreme Court, contained major players, or were widely anticipated to begin with, most copyright cases do not get a lot of press.
Copyright case law updates
- Reed Smith LLP
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- USA
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- December 15 2011
Unless they were decided by the Supreme Court, involved major players or were widely anticipated to begin with, most copyright cases do not get a lot of press.
"Under what circumstances does a copy become an original?"
- Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
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- USA
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- December 7 2010
This is the question posed at the beginning of the catalog issued by The Museum of Modern Art in New York in connection with its recent exhibition, The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today.
Fictional characters in new media
- Lathrop & Gage LLP
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- USA
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- July 9 2010
Spiderman, James Bond, Wonder Woman, Batman these iconic heroes remain among the best-known fictional characters of our time, and, as characters, are afforded copyright protection, independent of the works in which they appear.
Just because you can copy it does not mean that you may copy it
- Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC
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- USA
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- August 15 2012
In a number of recent cases, individual photographers have successfully sued third parties for unauthorized reproduction and use of photographs, particularly those from stock photography sources.
Friedman v. Guetta
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- June 29 2011
District court grants summary judgment in favor of plaintiff copyright owner, finding that defendant’s works, all of which contained altered reproductions of a photograph of the music group Run-DMC taken by plaintiff, were substantially similar plaintiff’s work and were not entitled to fair use protection.
Belair v. MGA entertainment
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- November 23 2011
District court grants summary judgment in favor of defendant, manufacturer of Bratz dolls, finding that no jury could reasonably find that elements of defendant’s dolls were substantially similar to the protectable elements of plaintiff photographer’s copyrighted image.
Schrock v. Learning Curve International, Inc, et al
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- November 11 2009
Seventh Circuit holds that (1) derivative works are not held to a higher level of originality in order to be copyrighted, and (2) so long as the author of the derivative work had permission to create the derivative work, that author did not need separate permission to obtain a copyright registration for the derivative work.
Gossip mag’s “fair use” claim in publishing a celebrity’s wedding photos rejected
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- September 28 2012
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Maya Magazines and Maya Publishing Group (collectively Maya), finding that the media company did not meet its burden of establishing that its publication of previously unpublished photos of a celebrity couple’s wedding constituted fair use.
Can we publish this photo?
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- November 20 2012
Content providers constantly wrestle with the vagaries of the fair use doctrine when they evaluate whether to run photographs or video clips without authorization (or when they decideafter publicationhow to respond to copyright claims).
Monge v. Maya Magazines, Inc. tabloid fair use immunity? Not so fast!
- Cole Schotz Meisel Forman & Leonard PA
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- USA
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- September 18 2012
The unauthorized use of copyrighted material may, under certain circumstances, be permissible under copyright’s “fair use” doctrine.
Metaphysics of the lawMonge v. Maya, news reporting and fair use
- Sedgwick LLP
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- USA
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- February 1 2013
Emerson once said that, through the abstraction of ideals, choice may come without consequence. And so, in many instances, publication of a found
Ninth Circuit revives California idea submission claims
- Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
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- USA
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- June 13 2011
At some point, everyone has come up with an idea for a television show or movie.
Morris v. Young
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- February 1 2013
District court grants in part and denies in part plaintiff photographer’s motion for summary judgment in copyright infringement action against defendant artist who used plaintiff’s photograph of two members of the punk-rock band the Sex Pistols in three works, finding a possibility of fair use in only one of the three works.
Copyright in classic films protects famous characters from reach of merchandisers
- Sullivan & Worcester LLP
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- USA
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- January 6 2012
In the recent case of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., et. al. v. X One X Productions, A.V.E.L.A., Inc., et al., 644 F.3d 584 (8th Cir. 2011), the plaintiff film companies declared victory over merchandisers attempting to sell products depicting images of famous characters from the films The Wizard of Oz, Gone With the Wind and Tom & Jerry.
Ninth Circuit adopts lower court’s use of its own "blades of chaos" to filter out the unprotectable elements of a plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- August 31 2011
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit adopted and affirmed the trial court’s decision that no reasonable juror could conclude that Sony’s God of War videogame contained substantially similar ideas and expression to any of the protectable elements contained in the plaintiffs’ works.
Psihoyos v. Pearson Education, Inc
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- March 7 2012
District court denies photographers’ motion for partial summary judgment on copyright infringement claims against publisher, finding an issue of fact as to whether publisher could establish, through its course of conduct with plaintiffs’ sub-licensee, that publisher had an implied license allowing it to use plaintiffs’ photographs prior to obtaining and paying for an express license.
No infringement in Cariou v. PrinceSecond Circuit plays art critic and finds fair use
- Sullivan & Worcester LLP
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- USA
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- April 25 2013
Two years after a U.S. District Court decision that sent shock waves through the contemporary art world, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has
Walking the red carpet may negate rights of publicity claims
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- August 30 2012
In an unpublished, non-precedential opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit concluded that a display of sample images for which a company provides copyright licenses to end users did not violate a celebrity’s rights of publicity when the celebrity gave implied consent to have her photograph taken on the “red carpets” of various events.
Monge v. Maya Magazines, Inc.
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- August 22 2012
Ninth Circuit holds that Spanish-language gossip magazine’s unauthorized publication of plaintiffs’ secret wedding photographs did not constitute fair use.
Cariou v. Prince
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- May 3 2013
Second Circuit reverses summary judgment in favor of photographer on his infringement claims against well-known appropriation artist Richard Prince
Scarlett? Rhett? Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn
- McDermott Will & Emery
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- USA
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- July 31 2011
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Eighth Circuit ruled that copyright holders deserve protection of characters even after images containing such characters have entered the public domain.
Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- June 23 2011
In an action for copyright infringement and violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Third Circuit reverses the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant radio station, finding that the station’s removal of a gutter credit from the photograph may be considered removal of “copyright management information” for purposes of the DMCA, and that the station's reproduction of the photograph was not protected as fair use.
Warner Bros. Entertainment et al. v. X One X Productions, Inc., et al.
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- July 14 2011
Circuit court affirms a permanent injunction restricting defendants’ depictions of copyrighted film characters derived from images in the public domain, allowing only a faithful reproduction, in whole or in part, of the uncopyrighted public domain images.
Yes Rasta! Appropriate appropriation: Second Circuit holds that commentary on original work unnecessary for fair use defense, only transformative quality required
- Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP
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- USA
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- April 26 2013
In Cariou v. Prince, No. 11-1197-cv (2d Cir. Apr. 25, 2013), an opinion with significant importance for the art world, the U.S. Court of Appeals for
Inspiration, imitation or illegal misappropriation? Courts reject artists’ taking others’ photographs as source material for new works
- Hogan Lovells
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- USA
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- July 21 2011
In two decisions issued within the past few months one in New York and one in California artists engaged in “appropriation art” were held to have violated the U.S. Copyright Act by incorporating others’ copyrighted photographs into their own artworks.
Summit Entertainment, LLC v. Beckett Media, LLC
- Loeb & Loeb LLP
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- USA
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- January 27 2010
Court grants plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction in copyright and trademark infringement action against publisher of a Twilight fanzine that used plaintiff’s Twilight trademark as well as images from the Twilight films and promotional images that were taken from plaintiff’s publicity website.
Ninth Circuit finds “thumbnail” images on the Internet are not likely to violate copyright law
- Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
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- USA
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- May 22 2007
On May 16, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) vacated a preliminary injunction that barred Google Inc. from displaying thumbnail versions of the plaintiff’s copyrighted photographs.
Revenge porn: "Is Anyone Up" on copyright law?
- Foley Hoag LLP
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- USA
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- December 20 2011
Here’s something you probably don’t want fixed in a tangible medium of expression: revenge porn.