In Hayden v. Koons, the Second Circuit affirmed a decision from the Southern District of New York that time-barred a plaintiff from bringing a suit some 30 years after the infringement occurred. Michael Hayden is an American artist who, while living and working in Rome for 10 years, learned of an adult entertainment performer named…
In Morgan Art Foundation Limited v. Michael McKenzie d/b/a American Image Art, a jury held the defendant liable for copyright and trademark infringement. Here, the Southern District of New York considered a post-judgment motion for a permanent injunction against the defendant. In 1999, artist Robert Indiana assigned his copyright and trademark rights to the Morgan…
In United King Film Distrib. (1990) Ltd. v. MoonPay USA LLC, the Southern District of Florida relied on Cox Communications, Inc., et al. v. Sony Music Entertainment et al. to dismiss claims against a payment company used by a pirate streaming service. This case followed our firm’s suing IsraelTV and getting in 2021 a default…
In Ted Entertainment, Inc. v. Alexandra Marwa Saber, et al., the Central District of California dismissed plaintiff’s claim of copyright infringement stemming from defendant’s “reaction video” on YouTube. Plaintiff is a production company owned by Ethan Klein that is mostly known for its content on YouTube, while defendant Saber is an individual content producer on…
In Eight Mile Style, LLC et al. v. Meta Platforms, Inc. et al., the rights management company for Eminem brought claims for direct, vicarious, and contributory copyright infringement against Meta in the Eastern District of Michigan. In December of 2020, Meta entered an agreement with a licensing agency to allow users to add music to…
In Lil’ Joe Records, Inc. v. Mark Ross et al., the Eleventh Circuit found that members of the rap group 2 Live Crew had not met the statutory requirements to terminate their grants of copyrights in five of their albums. Under Section 203 of the Copyright Act, the creator (“author”) of a work can terminate during…
In Deque Systems v. Browserstack, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the Eastern District of Virginia’s summary judgment granted in favor of defendant, because the plaintiff had failed to provide its calculation of damages until after discovery closed. Deque is in the business of developing software that helps companies audit their websites for compliance with the Americans…
Woodall v. Walt Disney Co. et al. was a copyright and trade secrets case in the Central District of California that culminated in a costly “bench slap” for the plaintiff and his counsel. Sanctions were issued after a five-year-long legal battle with a pedigree of bad-faith filings, including a forged confidentiality agreement. The plaintiff had…
Frida Kahlo Corporation et al. v. Mara Cristina Teresa Romeo Pinedo et al. is an ongoing matter in the Southern District of Florida that tested the “minimal contacts” doctrine used for determining personal jurisdiction. The plaintiffs are the Frida Kahlo Corporation (“FKC”), which was transferred rights by the heirs of the renowned painter Frida Kahlo…
Richardson v. Town Square Media is an ongoing case in the Second Circuit that was remanded back to the Southern District of New York for reconsideration. Music industry veteran Delray Richardson brought multiple claims of copyright infringement against Townsquare Media for embedding two videos he produced: (1) a clip of basketball star Michael Jordan breaking…