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Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)

American University’s Washington College of Law, along with other academic contributors, has launched the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (the Code). This forty-plus page report, the goal of which is to assist professors, teachers, librarians, and other educators in evaluating when and how they can incorporate third party copyright […]

New Legislation: The CASE Act

The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was passed by Congress on December 21, 2020 and signed into law on December 27, 2020 as a part of a much bigger omnibus spending bill. What Is It? The CASE Act creates a “Copyright Claims Board” (the Board) within the U.S. Copyright Office which can […]

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates

Q: Thank you for updating the copyright overview on this site. What are the most important changes that you want us to know? A: Because the update reflects changes from 2014 through 2016 it includes a few decisions that readers may be familiar with such as the Google book scanning decision (Author’s Guild v. Hathitrust, […]

How much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement? Hint: Cheshire Cat

Bloggers and artists often ask, “how much of a photo do you need to alter to avoid copyright infringement?” Five changes? Fifteen? The Seventh Circuit addressed the issue in the Kienitz v Sconnie Nation case recently. According to the court, Sconnie Nation made t-shirts displaying an image of Madison Wisconsin mayor Paul Soglin, using […]

Guidance on websites and copyright registration from the U.S. Copyright Office

As part of its new draft Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices, Third Edition, we have guidance on registration for websites. The draft of the full compendium is over 1200 pages and covers publication, recordation, notice, deposits, along with other topics. Members of the public may make comments anytime before (or after) the Third Edition […]

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Copyright Case Opinion Summaries

Source: Justia Daily Opinion Summaries (feed)

Peretti v. Authentic Brands Group, LLC

Published on: May 4, 2022

Appellants, heirs to the late songwriter and record producer Hugo Peretti, appealed from the district court’s order dismissing Appellants’ action, which sought a declaratory judgment that Appellants had validly terminated a 1983 grant of rig…

Peretti v. Authentic Brands Group, LLC

Published on: May 4, 2022

Bimbo Bakeries USA, et al. v. Sycamore, et al.

Published on: March 18, 2022

Bimbo Bakeries USA, Inc. (“Bimbo Bakeries”) owned, baked, and sold Grandma Sycamore’s Home-Maid Bread (“Grandma Sycamore’s”). Bimbo Bakeries alleged that United States Bakery (“U.S. Bakery”), a competitor, and Leland Sycamore (“Leland”), the…

Gray v. Hudson

Published on: March 10, 2022

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order vacating the jury’s damages award for copyright infringement and granting judgment as a matter of law to Katy Perry and other defendants. Plaintiffs, Christian hip-hop artists, filed suit…

Bell v. Eagle Mountain Saginaw Independent School District

Published on: February 25, 2022

Plaintiff, a sports psychologist, filed suit against the school district for copyright infringement after the softball team and flag corps at a public high school used their Twitter accounts to post a motivational passage from plaintiff’s bo…

Copyright Case Dockets

Source: Justia Dockets and Filings (feed)

Black + Gold Corporation v. Mantra Vie, LLC et al

May 4, 2022

Filed: May 4, 2022 as 2:2022cv10949

Plaintiff: Black + Gold Corporation

Defendant: Mantra Vie, LLC and Christina Gaskins

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 501 Copyright Infringement

Court: Sixth Circuit › Michigan › US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Brand Q, Inc. v. TieMart, Inc., dba Alexander Logan Neckwear et al

May 4, 2022

Filed: May 4, 2022 as 1:2022cv02337

Plaintiff: Brand Q, Inc.

Defendant: TieMart, Inc., dba Alexander Logan Neckwear and DOES 1-10

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

Court: Seventh Circuit › Illinois › US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Darex, LLC v. Melitawillstore

May 4, 2022

Filed: May 4, 2022 as 1:2022cv00651

Plaintiff: Darex, LLC

Defendant: Melitawillstore

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

Court: Ninth Circuit › Oregon › US District Court for the District of Oregon

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Crisman v. Celona, Inc.

May 4, 2022

Filed: May 4, 2022 as 5:2022cv02694

Plaintiff: Chris Crisman

Defendant: Celona, Inc.

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 501 Copyright Infringement

Court: Ninth Circuit › California › US District Court for the Northern District of California

Type: Intellectual Property › Copyright

Picture It Sold, LLC et al v. Hearst Communications, Inc. et al

May 4, 2022

Filed: May 4, 2022 as 3:2022cv01006

Plaintiff: Picture It Sold, LLC and Carol Embry

Defendant: Hearst Communications, Inc., The Hearst Corporation, Hearst Newspapers, LLC and others

Cause Of Action: 17 U.S.C. § 101 Copyright Infringement

Court: Fifth Circuit › Texas › US District Court for the Northern District of Texas

Type: Intellectual Property › Property Rights: Copyright

Copyright Legislation

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

Copyright Legislative Developments: H.R. 6556

April 22, 2022

Bill Recently Introduced

H.R. 6556 - Freedom to Repair Act of 2022

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide for the diagnosis, maintenance, and repair of certain digital electronic equipment.

Copyright Legislative Developments

March 24, 2022

Bill Recently Introduced

S. 3880 - SMART Copyright Act of 2022

To amend title 17, United States Code, to define and provide for accommodation and designation of technical measures to identify, protect, or manage copyrighted works, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments

March 4, 2022

Bill Recently Introduced

H.R. 6769 - Pro Codes Act, introduced 2/18/2022.

To amend title 17, United States Code, to include requirements for works adopted by reference into law, and for other purposes.

Copyright Legislative Developments

October 14, 2021

Bill Recently Introduced

S. 2972 - A bill to repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, introduced 10/8/2021.

To repeal section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934.

Copyright Legislative Developments

August 4, 2021

Bill Recently Introduced

H.R.4130 - American Music Fairness Act

To amend title 17, United States Code, to provide fair treatment of radio stations and artists for the use of sound recordings, and for other purposes.

Copyright Office News

Source: Copyright.gov (feed)

Copyright Office Announces Request for Information on the Development and Use of Standard Technical Measures

April 27, 2022

Copyright Office Announces Request for Information on the Development and Use of Standard Technical Measures NewsNet 959April 27, 2022 The U.S. Copyright Office has published a Federal Register notice requesting information on the development and use of standard technical measures for the protection

Copyright Office Issues Final Rule Clarification for Small Claims Expedited Registration Procedures and Final Rule Correction for Initiation of Proceedings and Related Procedures

April 22, 2022

Copyright Office Issues Final Rule Clarification for Small Claims Expedited Registration Procedures and Final Rule Correction for Initiation of Proceedings and Related Procedures NewsNet 958April 22, 2022 The U.S. Copyright Office has published a technical correction regarding the Copyright Claims B

Correction: Copyright Office Hosts Event Celebrating 2022 World IP Day

April 14, 2022

Copyright Office Hosts Event Celebrating 2022 World IP Day NewsNet 957April 14, 2022 The U.S. Copyright Office invites you to attend the upcoming Copyright Office Presents celebration of the World Intellectual Property (IP) Day. Please join the Office on April 26 at 9:30 a.m. eastern time on Zoom fo

Copyright Office Hosts Event Celebrating 2022 World IP Day

April 14, 2022

Brent Lutes Named First Chief Economist of the U.S. Copyright Office

April 12, 2022

Brent Lutes Named First Chief Economist of the U.S. Copyright Office NewsNet 956April 12, 2022 Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter has announced the appointment of Dr. Brent Lutes as the first Chief Economist of the U.S. Copyright Office, effective April 10, 2022. As Chief Economist, Lutes will

Copyright Regulations

Source: Justia Regulation Tracker (feed)

Proposed Rule - Determination of Royalty Rates and Terms for Making and Distributing Phonorecords (Phonorecords IV)

March 30, 2022

The Copyright Royalty Judges withdraw a proposed rule that would have set continued, unaltered rates and terms for subpart B configurations subject to the statutory license to use nondramatic musical works to make and distribute phonorecords of those works (the Mechanical License).

Notice - Distribution of 2015-17 Satellite Royalty Funds

March 14, 2022

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce partial settlement of controversies and request comments on a motion for partial distribution of satellite television retransmission royalties for royalty years 2015-17.

Notice - Determination of Royalty Rates and Terms for Making Ephemeral Copies of Sound Recordings for Transmission to Business Establishments (Business Establishments IV)

January 5, 2022

The Copyright Royalty Judges (Judges) announce commencement of a proceeding to determine reasonable royalty rates and terms for the recording of ephemeral copies of sound recordings to facilitate digital audio transmissions of those sound recordings to business establishments pursuant to the limitat

Rule - Adjustment of Cable Statutory License Royalty Rates

December 23, 2021

The Copyright Royalty Judges published for comment a proposed settlement governing royalty rates and terms for the retransmission of over-the-air television and radio broadcast stations by cable television systems to their subscribers. Having received no comments, the Judges adopt the existing rates

Notice - Notice of Intent To Audit

December 22, 2021

The Copyright Royalty Judges announce receipt from SoundExchange, Inc., of notices of intent to audit the 2018, 2019, and 2020 statements of account submitted by commercial webcasters Audacy and Midwest Communications concerning the royalty payments they made pursuant to two statutory licenses.

Copyright Blogs

Source: Justia BlawgSearch (feed)

Statutory damages in copyright, and the Tenenbaum case

May 5, 2022

Statutory Damages and the Tenenbaum Litigation: Doug Lichtman out at UCLA sends this along: Joel Tenenbaum looks a lot like every other defendant who has been accused by the music... The post Statutory damages in copyright, and the Tenenbaum case appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.

How Europe can build on strengths in SEPs to reclaim leadership in cellular with 5G and 6G

May 5, 2022

The EU is in grave danger of “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” in its prospective attempts to reform SEP licensing with interventions for the purported benefit of European Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in IoT. Europe was once preeminent in cellular communications with 2G GSM—in

3 Count: Not Very Private

May 4, 2022

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday. 1: India Orders VPN Providers to Log and Hand Over Customer Data First off today, Michael Kan at PC Magazine reports that India is enacting a new policy that, if enforced, would require virtual private network (VPN) prov

Section 2(d) and bridging the gap

May 4, 2022

In the future, if there is any singularity in trademark law, it may well come down to what what is called “bridging the gap” in the Second Circuit. In other... The post Section 2(d) and bridging the gap appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.

Will you abandon an Elon-owned Twitter?

May 4, 2022

It seems like everyone is talking about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. It’s like a train wreck that we just can’t ignore.The only non-controversial thing to say about it is that it’s controversial. Apparently, some people are already abandoning Twitter in fear of what it might become, while others wh

Fairly Used Blog

Source: Stanford Copyright and Fair Use Center (feed)

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Open Educational Resources (OER)

By Cicely Wilson

Published on: June 10, 2021

New Legislation: The CASE Act

By Cicely Wilson

Published on: June 7, 2021

Celebrating the unfreezing of the public domain

By Mary Minow

Published on: January 30, 2019

For the first time in twenty years, published works in the U.S. expired into the public domain. This anomaly was the direct result of the Copyright Term Extension Act that extended the length of copyright for works still in their renewal term at the time of the Act to 95 years. This effectively froze the […]

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use – Key Overview Updates

By Mary Minow

Published on: April 11, 2017

Future of Libraries – Need First Sale for ebooks

By Mary Minow

Published on: February 19, 2017

How will libraries hold onto ebooks and other digital files like mp3s so that readers and scholars in the future can still read them? The current state of affairs relies on license agreements with publishers who in turn license to vendors, who in turn, license to libraries. Hardly sustainable when files can and do disappear […]