Teradyne v. Ace Test Systems Inc. was a case that began in the Central District of California, but made its way up to the Ninth Circuit for a fair use analysis. With an eye toward the Supreme Court case of Google v. Oracle, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s claim…
OpenAI v. Open Artificial Intelligence Inc. is a case currently in the Northern District of California that pits an AI David versus an AI Goliath — but in a classic reverse trademark confusion case. OpenAI is the owner of the popular ChatGPT service, and Open Artificial Intelligence, Inc. (OAI) is a company that sprung up…
I was a full-time musician before law school, but Standing on the Horizon is the first album as a band leader (playing tenor sax, soprano sax and bass clarinet) consisting of my own compositions played with four extraordinary, Grammy-nominated and award-winning musicians. In early October 2023, the album was released on Spotify, iTunes, Pandora and…
In Parker v. Winwood, musician Steve Winwood was accused of copyright infringement for allegedly copying the bass line of “Ain’t That A Lot Of Love” — written by Willa Dean Parker and Homer Banks in 1965 — for his song, “Gimme Some Lovin’,” written in 1966. 51 years later, Willa Dean Parker and the widow of…
Taylor Swift is known for aggressively protecting her intellectual property as a songwriter, but in Hall v. Swift she found herself on the defensive. Pop artists Sean Hall and Nathan Butler alleged Swift infringed on the lyrics to their best-known song, “Playas Gon’ Play,” in her song, “Shake It Off.” Hall and Butler: “Playas, they gonna play,…
In McDermott v. Monday Monday, the Southern District of New York reiterated what it means to be a copyright troll — and the trouble inherent in essentially seeking to “clear one’s name”, whether by bringing a defamation claim or asking a judge to re-phrase something they’ve written. The plaintiff in this case was represented by attorney…
In Parker v. Winwood, musician Steve Winwood was accused of copyright infringement for allegedly copying the bass line of “Ain’t That A Lot Of Love” — written by Willa Dean Parker and Homer Banks in 1965 — for his song, “Gimme Some Lovin’,” written in 1966. 51 years later, Willa Dean Parker and the widow of…
It seems lately that ignorance can do a lot for you — but willful ignorance won’t save you from being held liable for contributory infringement. That’s what the defendants in Luxottica GROUP, S.p.A., v. Airport Mini Mall, LLC learned recently in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Originating in the District of Georgia, Airport Mini Mall (AMM)…
A copyright infringement case called Pohl v. MH SUB I d.b.a. Officite (“Officite”) was recently remanded to district court by a somewhat miffed Eleventh Circuit. The plaintiff is Mitchell Pohl, DDS, a dentist who took before-and-after photographs of one patient for promotional use. Evidently the photos were original enough to allow for copyright registration, and Pohl obtained…
Here in the United States, we sometimes have a hard time determining who owns the copyright of something, or whether a work is in the public domain, subject to fair use, similar enough to be infringing, etc., etc. But on April 15th, the European Union committed itself — and the internet service providers (ISPs) that…