California Intellectual Property Blog

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NETFLIX SUED FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT OVER TIGER KING

By Joseph Mandour on September 16, 2020

Netflix Sued for Copyright Infringement over Tiger KingSan Diego – Apparently, Carole Baskin isn’t the only one with a grudge against Netflix’s hit Tiger King series.

In a copyright lawsuit filed September 14, 2020, Timothy Sepi, the sole owner of Whyte Monkee Productions, is alleging that the Netflix documentary series, Tiger King, features clips shot and owned by Sepi. These clips, he claims, were shown without giving him proper credit or monetary compensation for his work.

Tiger King premiered on Netflix in March of 2020, and quickly became a viral sensat Read the rest

STAR TREK AND DR. SEUSS MASHUP RULED COPYRIGHT FAIR USE

By Joseph Mandour on March 27, 2019

Star Trek and Dr. Seuss Mashup Ruled Copyright Fair UseOrange County – A book titled Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!, a mashup of Star Trek and Dr. Seuss, created a copyright legal dispute which recently came to a conclusion. Dr. Seuss Enterprises filed a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit but has now lost on summary judgment.

ComicMix, the creator of the book, prevailed on trademark claims related to the book a year ago. At that time, U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino concluded that the book wasn’t explicitly misleading about any connection to the compan Read the rest

U.S. SUPREME COURT REQUIRES COPYRIGHT REGISTRATION TO FILE LAWSUIT

By Joseph Mandour on March 12, 2019

U.S. Supreme Court Requires Copyright Registration to File LawsuitLos Angeles – The U.S. Supreme Court recently made an important copyright decision in the case Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com. In the decision, the Supreme court made a unanimous decision that a copyright registration from the U.S. Copyright Office is now required before filing a copyright infringement lawsuit.

There has been a long time circuit court split on the issue. While some circuit courts required only that a copyright applicatio Read the rest

#PETA FILES APPEAL IN #MONKEY #SELFIE CASE

By Joseph Mandour on August 4, 2016

monkeyLos Angeles – The legal saga over a monkey selfie continues. After a judge ruled against PETA (“People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals”) in its copyright case, the animal rights group has recently filed an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The history of the case goes like this. In 2011, British nature photographer David Slate Read the rest

PETA SUES TO GIVE MONKEY COPYRIGHT TO HIS SELFIE

By Joseph Mandour on September 30, 2015

monkeySan Diego – A monkey named Naruto is the plaintiff in a copyright lawsuit centering on selfies he took in 2011. The not-for-profit organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (PETA), filed the lawsuit on behalf of Naruto and the other Macaques living in a reserve on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi.

The photos at issue were taken by Naruto with a camera owned by British nature photographer David Slater. While Naruto pressed the button to take the photo, Slater claims he is the intellect behind the photos since he set up and held the tripod throughout the shoot Read the rest

SAMSUNG CREATES A NEW FUNCTION TO COMPETE WITH APPLE’S PINCH-TO-ZOOM PATENT

By Joseph Mandour on March 14, 2014

touching screen on tablet-pc Los Angeles – A recent patent filed by Samsung looks to get around Apple’s patented pinch-to-zoom technology, which has been a source of major contention between the two tech powerhouses for years.  The issue goes back to before Apple was famously awarded $1 billion in patent infringement damages in 2012.  Though that award was eventually reduced to hundreds of millions, one of the major hot buttons in the litigation surrounded the pinch-to-zoom technology.  The presiding judge found that Samsung had infringed Apple’s pinch-to-zoom patent, dubbed the ‘ 915 patent, in over 20 of its devices.

Sony has said it planned the release in order to extend the copyright protection of the unreleased recordings.  Previously, Europe only allowed copyright protection for 50 years from creation.  The European Union revised its copyright laws in 2011, extending copyright protection to 70 years.

However, the law mandates that the copyrighted material be published before the 50-year term ends or the 20-year extens Read the rest

LOS ANGELES JUDGE RULES YOGA POSES CANNOT BE COPYRIGHTED

By Joseph Mandour on December 18, 2012

yoga Los Angeles – A Los Angeles judge dismissed copyright infringement claims against a chain of yoga studios that teaches classes based on Bikram Choudhury’s hot yoga system without obtaining his consent.

According to U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright of the Central District of California, Evolation Yoga LLC could not be held liable for copyright infringement for teaching and practicing Choudhury’s system, which consists of performing a sequence of 26 yoga positions in a room kept at 105 degrees.  Wright said that though Choudhury’s books and videos that describe his system are copyrighted and therefore protected, only things like the tex Read the rest

COPYRIGHT OFFICE SEEKS INPUT ON VISUAL ART RESALE ROYALTY BILL

By Joseph Mandour on September 21, 2012

paint-palette Los Angeles – The U.S. Copyright Office said Wednesday it is kicking off an inquiry at Congress’s request into how current copyright law affects and supports visual artists, and how a federal resale royalty right for visual artists could affect the art marketplace.

The office will take comments from the public until Nov. 5 on the means visual artists have to exploit their works under existing law, as well as any issues and obstacles that may be encountered when considering the enactment of a federal resale royalty right in the U.S., the office said in a Federal Register notice.

The inquiry comes in response to a letter Read the rest

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