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...
29 May, 2024 Tenth Circuit Refuses to Award Profits Under Copyright Act for Unauthorized Use of Photo in Ad By Brian Murphy I Dig Texas (IDT) and Creager Services (Creager) are competitors that sell attachments for skid steer loaders, a type of heavy machinery...
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...
19 Sep, 2023 Publishing Technical Standards Incorporated By Reference in the Law Qualifies as Fair Use, Says DC Circuit By Brian Murphy The plaintiffs are three organizations that created and own the copyright in technical standards that establish best practices for...
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...
24 Apr, 2023 Reporter's Use of Screenshot of Jan 6 Insurrection Footage "Unquestionably" Fair, Says SDNY By Brian Murphy On January 6, 2021, photojournalist Robyn Brody captured footage (here) of Kelly Meggs and other members of the Florida Oath Keepers,...
15 Aug, 2022 Unauthorized Use of Photos to Illustrate Article Is "in No Way Transformative," Says CA9 By Brian Murphy Elliot McGucken is an award-winning fine-art photographer who specializes in natural landscapes. (Check out his website.) In March of...
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.)...
06 Apr, 2022 Mic's Use of Screenshot of NY Post Article About the Woes of "Beautiful People" Qualifies for Fair Use By Brian Murphy On April 12, 2017, The New York Post published an article entitled "Why I won’t date hot women anymore," a thoughtful exploration of just...
23 Mar, 2022 Migrating Online Forum to New Platform to Avoid Russian Censorship Qualifies as Fair Use By Brian Murphy Davis Square in Somerville, Massachusetts, is a groovy place. Between 2010 and 2017, a group of its residents used the Russian-owned...
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...
15 Feb, 2022 Jeff Koons Accused of Copyright Infringement For Unauthorized Use of a Snake Sculpture in Three Iconic Works By Brian Murphy Plaintiff Michael Hayden is an American who, in the late 1980s, was living la dolce vita in Italy, working as an artist and set designer....
11 Dec, 2021 Copyright dispute over Warhol's "Prince Series" makes its way to the Supreme Court By Caren Decter The copyright battle over Andy’s Warhol’s “Prince Series” has made its way up to the Supreme Court. This week, the Andy Warhol Foundation...
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...