Last Year in Copyrights

Online CLE

Last Year in Copyrights

1 General CLE credit

From the Oregon State Bar CLE seminar Intellectual Property Review—Updates and Changes from 2019, presented on February 14, 2020

© 2020 David Madden. All rights reserved.

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Chapter 3

2019 Copyright ReviewDavid MaddenMersenne Law

Portland, Oregon

Contents

Presentation Slides: 2019 Copyright Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–12019 Copyright Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7H. R. 2426 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3–7

Chapter 3—2019 Copyright Review

3–iiIntellectual Property Review—Updates and Changes from 2019


3–1Intellectual Property Review—Updates and Changes from 2019

2019 COPYRIGHT REVIEWDavid MaddenMersenne Law

Synopsis◦ Ten Cases

◦ Developments in Copyright Trolling

◦ Copyright “Small Claims” Court

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COPYRIGHT CASES BY STATE(DISTRICT COURT)

~4800 TOTAL

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COPYRIGHT APPEALS



U.S. Supreme Court

◦ Fourth Estate v. Wall-Street.com139 S.Ct. 881 (2019)◦ Copyright registration (not just

application to register) is required to bring suit for copyright infringement.

◦ Resolves 5/8/9 v. 10/11 circuit split◦ Copyright office lead time: electronic

filings=1-6 months.

◦ Rimini Street v. Oracle139 S.Ct. 873 (2019)◦ Long-running (2010) copyright case

between software vendor Oracle and third-party software maintenance vendor Rimini Street.

◦ Rimini found liable for infringement in jury trial; Oracle awarded $35.6M damages, $28.5M attorney’s fees, $4.95M costs and $12.8M “litigation expenses.”

◦ Expert witness fees not listed in 18 U.S.C. § 1821 or 1920, so not available to prevailing party.

Google LLC v. Oracle America (18-956)

◦ Re: Copyright treatment of programming language / library APIs

◦ Trial 1: Google found liable for infringement, but jury deadlocked over fair use. Court determined that APIs were not copyrightable as a matter of law. First appeal resulted in APIs entitled to copyright protection, remand for reinstatement of infringement verdict and further proceedings on fair use.

◦ Trial 2: Google prevailed on fair use, Oracle appealed, 9th Circuit says API package use not fair as a matter of law.

◦ Supreme Court grants cert, oral argument set for 24 March 2020.

◦ The questions presented are:

1. Whether copyright protection extends to a software interface.

2. Whether, as the jury found, petitioner's use of a software interface in the context of creating a new computer program constitutes fair use.



Originality, Similarity◦ Sean Hall v. Taylor Swift

18-55426 (9th Cir. 2019)◦ Hall’s complaint against

Swift over Shake It Off (vs.Playas Gon’ Play) dismissed based on lack of originality in 6-word phrase and four-part lyrical sequence.

◦ Reversed and remanded: “although the amount of creative input … required to meet the originality standard is low, it is not negligible.”

◦ Griffin v. Sheeran1:17-cv-5221 (SDNY)

◦ Griffin’s complaint against Sheeran over Thinking Out Loud infringes their rights in the Marvin Gaye songLet’s Get It On.

◦ MSJ denied: material dispute over originality ofI-iii-IV-V chord progression and similarity between works.

◦ Gray v. Katy Perry2:15-cv-5642 (CDCA)

◦ Suit over Perry’s Dark Horsevs. Christian rap/hip-hop Joyful Noise.

◦ Jury verdict of infringement (~$2.8M)

◦ On appeal now

Fair Use

◦ Oyewole v. Various Artists18-1311 (2nd Cir. 2019)

◦ Notorious B.I.G. and others used the phrase “party and bullshit” in their work. The phrase is from an Oyewolepoem When the Revolution Comes.

◦ Dismissed on 12(b)(6) over court’s “fair use” analysis; 2nd Circuit affirms.

◦ Docket is a mess, too many defendants, too many letters, but possibly no MTD on fair use – how did court get here?

◦ Dr. Seuss v. ComicMix et al.3:16-cv-2779 (SDCA)

◦ Infringement allegations over Dr. Seuss parody Oh, The Places You’ll Boldly Go!

◦ Two MTDs and JOTP on fair use denied, then MSJ granted: alleged infringing work is highly transformative, use is fair.

◦ Currently on appeal.



Procedural Defenses◦ Charles v. Jerry Seinfeld

1:18-cv-1196 (SDNY)◦ Π claimed Seinfeld stole his idea for “two

friends talking and driving.”◦ Idea was discussed in the 1990s, and π

produced a pilot in 2011.◦ Seinfeld started Comedians in Cars

Getting Coffee for Netflix in 2017.◦ Π on notice that Δ repudiated copyright

ownership claim at least by 2012, so complaint dismissed as barred by statute of limitations.

◦ Gold Value International Textile v. Sanctuary Clothing LLC (925 F.3d 1140, 9th Cir. 2019)

◦ Π sued over copied fabric designs◦ Π had knowingly filed registrations that

combined published and unpublished designs

◦ Copyright Registrar, when queried, said it would not register a mix of published and unpublished works

◦ Summary judgment granted on invalid registration; decision affirmed by 9th

Circuit.

Copyright Trolling

◦ Oregon defense bar has chased trolls out of state; Washington also.

◦ Strike 3 and Malibu Media are the largest remaining movie (porn) players; they file in New York, Maryland, California, Illinois

◦ State-court filings in Florida (“Pure Bill of Discovery”)

◦ Stock-photo trolls file some suits, not as prolific as movie trolls

◦ Strike 3 filed 1,192 cases

◦ Malibu Media filed 495 cases



1329

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93 78 68 53 48 48 40 36 34 33 33 32 30 29 29 28 20 20 19 18 16 15 14 14 13 13 12 11 8 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 4 3 3 2 1 0 0 0

STRIKE 3 & MALIBU MEDIA FILEDOVER 33% OF ALL COPYRIGHT ACTIONS

IN 2019

Copyright “Small Claims Court”◦ Copyright Office studied at Congress’s

direction ~2011-2013◦ Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims

Enforcement (“CASE”) Act of 2016, 2017, 2019

◦ HR2426 passed 410-6 in October 2019◦ Senate Judiciary Committee approved

without amendment September 2019

◦ Copyright Office to establish “Copyright Claims Board”

◦ Can authorize subpoenas under 17 USC 512(h) (“to identify infringer”)

◦ Limited judicial review (only “fraud, corruption, misrepresentation, other misconduct” and “CCB exceeded authority”)

◦ $7,500 or $15k per work, $15,000 per proceeding; $30,000 total

◦ Parties bear own costs, but $5k attorney-fee recovery possible for bad-faith conduct.





2019 Copyright Cases

Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 139 S.Ct. 881, 203 L.Ed.2d 147 (2019)https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/586/17-571/

Rimini St., Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc., 139 S. Ct. 873, 203 L.Ed.2d 180 (2019)https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/586/17-1625/

Oracle Am., Inc. v. Google LLC, 886 F.3d 1179 (Fed. Cir. 2018)http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/opinions-orders/17-1118.Opinion.3-26-2018.1.PDF

Sean Hall v. Taylor Swift, 18-55426 (9th Cir. 2019)http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/memoranda/2019/12/05/18-55426.pdf

Griffin v. Sheeran, 1:17-cv-5221 (SDNY)https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/new-york/nysdce/1:2017cv05221/477309/93

Gray v. Katy Perry, 2:15-cv-5642 (CDCA)Demand for Jury Trial: http://openargs.com/wp-content/uploads/Katy-Perry-complaint.pdf[Proposed] Judgment: https://www.scribd.com/document/425614778/Gray-v-Hudson-Judgment

Oyewole v. Ora, 291 F.Supp.3d 422 (S.D. N.Y. 2018)https://www.leagle.com/decision/infdco20180312c62

Dr. Seuss v. ComicMix et al., 3:16-cv-2779 (SDCA)https://socalip.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Dr.-Seuss-v.-ComicMix-LLC.pdf

Charles v. Jerry Seinfeld, 1:18-cv-1196 (SDNY)https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/documents/389/83821/Seinfeld-Ruling.pdf

Gold Value Int’l Textile, Inc. v. Sanctuary Clothing, LLC, 925 F.3d 1140 (9th Cir. 2019)https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/17-55818/17-55818-2019-06-04.html

H. R. 2426

https://www.congress.gov/116/bills/hr2426/BILLS-116hr2426pcs.pdf



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Last Year in Copyrights