Author: Bruce R. Ewing
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Second Circuit Calls Foul On Unauthorized Use of Michael Jordan Video
Michael Jordan is best known for his offensive skills, but his defense was an underrated aspect of his play; he was 1998 Defensive Player of the Year, after all. So it’s fitting that he features prominently in a recent decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in which three (or maybe two) defenses to…
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I Don’t Get You, Babe – The Curious Copyright Case of Sonny & Cher & Mary
The 1970s were the heyday of the now-extinct television genre known as the variety show: a weekly extravaganza headlined by a well-known entertainer, generally accompanied by a supporting cast of singers, dancers and comedians, and featuring a weekly guest star to liven things up. Among the longest lasting of these weekly spectacles was The…
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Warhols, Tigers and Monkees, Oh My! – The Tenth Circuit Applies the Supreme Court’s Warhol Decision Against Netflix
In a mashup that the late pop artist Andy Warhol surely would have loved, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has applied the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith to vacate a prior district court decision on the issue of fair use, and…
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Lies Without Consequences? The Federal Circuit Seems to Think So, When it Comes to Incontestability.
For 48 years, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has held that if a trademark registrant files a fraudulent declaration under Section 15 of the Lanham Act to make its registration incontestable, the registration is cancelled in its entirety, full stop. But on October 18, the U.S. Court…
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Supreme Court’s Warhol Decision Transforms Law of Fair Use by Emphasizing Importance of the “Purpose” of the Works at Issue
The Supreme Court’s decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith issued earlier today is chock full of references to famous artists, famous works of art, famous musicians and famous celebrities dating back centuries. Given Andy Warhol’s focus on the famous during his prolific career, he’d have to be pleased to see…
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Supreme Court Grapples With Complex Issue of Fair Use and Appears Uncertain as to How to Rule, and Thereafter How to Proceed
It is not every day that Supreme Court oral arguments include references to The Lord of the Rings (both the books and the movies!), the Syracuse University athletic program, Mork and Mindy, All in the Family, Norman Lear (inaccurately characterized as having passed away, when he just celebrated his 100th birthday), the Mona Lisa (in…
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Most. Important. Copyright. Fair. Use. Case. Ever!
Hyperbolic descriptions of the supposed importance of cases dealing with intellectual property rights are as numerous as they are unfounded, but that is not true when it comes to The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, Case No. 21-869, in which the U.S. Supreme Court just granted certiorari. It is no…
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You Know His Name (Jason). You Know the Story (Friday the 13th). But Do You Know Who Owns Jason? The Second Circuit Does – and the Answer May Surprise You.
As of today, there have been twelve (yes, twelve!) movies released as part of the Friday the 13th series of horror films, as well as a television series. For those of you who have not seen any of these films, they are not for the faint of heart. The focus of the Friday the 13th…
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A Tale of Two Princes
An important decision by the Second Circuit in The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith, Case No. 19-2420-cv (2d Cir. Mar. 26, 2021), has, in important respects, upended how the defense of fair use is applied in copyright cases, with potentially major ramifications that transcend the “appropriation art” with which Warhol…
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First Circuit Shines Light on Murky Status of Copyright Sublicenses
In a case of first impression at the appellate level, the First Circuit recently issued a decision highlighting that U.S. copyright law authorizes implied, not merely express, sublicenses of copyrighted works. Photographic Illustrators Corporation v. Orgill, Inc., Case No. 19-452 (1st Cir. Mar. 13, 2020). The case involved photos. Not just any photos mind you,…