11 Nov, 2024 Can You Avoid Copyright Claims By Modifying Props Used in Your Ads? By Brian Murphy In Crystal Castles, the arcade game released by Atari in 1983, the player controls Bentley Bear, a bruin tasked with collecting gems...
26 Mar, 2024 Fourth Circuit Hands Photographer a Clean Sweep Victory in Copyright Fair Use Appeal Over News Website’s Use of Free of Charge Photo By Linda Zirkelbach By Linda J. Zirkelbach & Parker Zimmerman On February 6, 2024, in Philpot v. Independent Journal Review, the U.S. Court of Appeals for...
30 Oct, 2023 Court offers first glimpse into whether AI machine learning is copyright infringement or fair use By Jeremy Goldman As we previously blogged, multiple generative AI platforms are facing lawsuits alleging that the unauthorized use of copyright-protected...
27 Oct, 2023 Court Revises Opinion in Kat Von D Tattoo Case in Wake of Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith By Brian Murphy Tattoos and fair use. Again. (See this post from last month.) The plaintiff Jeffrey Sedlik is a photographer who took (and owns the...
25 Sep, 2023 The Girl with the Tiger King Tattoo Loses Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Against Netflix By Brian Murphy Tattoos again. (See here and here.) In the early days of the pandemic, tattoo parlors across the country - including one owned by...
24 Aug, 2023 Car Dealer Shared Viral Video of Truck in Tornado ... and Then Got Sued for Infringement By Brian Murphy This case is about what can happen when an advertiser (here, a Chevy dealer) modifies and then shares on Facebook a viral video (showing...
18 May, 2022 Hopelessly Devoted to Fair Use: District Court Holds that Vape is Parody of Grease By Brian Murphy Sketchworks Comedy is the producer of Vape, a play advertised as a "millennial parody" of Grease. (You can watch Vape's trailer here.)...
17 Mar, 2022 High School Softball Team's Tweet of Inspirational Passage Qualifies For Fair Use, Says CA5 By Brian Murphy We have met sports psychologist Dr. Keith Bell before. (See this post.) In 1982, Dr. Bell published Winning Isn’t Normal, a 72-page...
08 Nov, 2021 Did Country Rap Artist UpChurch Infringe Copyright and Violate VARA When He "Shot to Hell" an Artist's Paintings ... with Bullets? By Brian Murphy Plaintiff Jacob Aaron Leveille is a visual artist who lives in Florida. (You can check out his work on Instagram.) Defendant Ryan Edward...
11 Oct, 2021 "Scary Terry" Rozier Beats Copyright Claim Brought By Owner of Ghost Mask from Horror Pic SCREAM By Brian Murphy Pro baller Terry Rozier (our defendant) began his career with the Boston Celtics and now plays for the Charlotte Hornets. Rozier's...
05 Jul, 2021 Embedded Photo of Meghan Markle Doesn't Qualify for Fair Use on Motion to Dismiss By Brian Murphy Plaintiff owns the copyright in a photo of Meghan Markle, also known as the Duchess of Sussex, taken at a high school dance she attended...
11 Apr, 2021 The Second Circuit "Clarifies" (?) Transformativeness in Fair Use Cases Involving Visual Works: The Andy Warhol Foundation vs. Goldsmith By Brian Murphy Andy Warhol must be rolling over in his grave - a grave that is viewable 24-7 via this webcam. (Something, no doubt, that would have...
13 Sep, 2020 Publishing a Cropped Shot of Jon Hamm's Crotch is Fair Use Under Copyright Law By Brian Murphy Jon Hamm apparently likes to go commando. We know this because in 2013, HuffPost published an article entitled "25 Things You Wish You...
30 May, 2020 Nothing "Fishy" About Use of Children's Song "Fish Sticks n' Tater Tots" in Documentary about Burlesque Dancers, Court Rules By Brian Murphy Fish Sticks n' Tater Tots. A typical school lunch during Lent in a Catholic grammar school. Also the title of a children's song written...
27 Feb, 2020 Drake's Sampling is a Fair Use By Brian Murphy In the early 1980s, Jimmy Smith, an American jazz musician of some renown, recorded the album Off the Top, consisting of six instrumental...
28 Jan, 2020 New Rules for Comparative Advertising in Ukraine: What’s New for Advertisers and Other Market Players? By Alla Smorodyna Oleg Klymchuk On 12 November 2019, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine “On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine regarding...