Joe Meckes

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Did the Supreme Court Rule that the Copyright Act Bars Damages for Old Infringement – Or Was It Just Sloppy Drafting? 

It seems the Supreme Court will decide (again) whether a claim for copyright infringement can extend to infringement that occurred more than three years before filing suit. In Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, the Supreme Court will resolve a classic circuit split – the Second Circuit holding that no damages can be obtained for … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit Holds that Registration of a Single Photography Database Supports Award of Statutory Damages for Each Individual Photo in the Database

Reasoning that the form of a copyright registration does not really matter, the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed a district court’s ruling that real estate photography provider VHT was entitled to statutory damages for 2,700 photos infringed by Zillow even though VHT had registered all of the works at issue as part of a single database. … Continue Reading

No First Amendment Right to Confuse Consumers, High Court Holds

Today, in a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court held that the First Amendment will not protect an infringers’ use of a confusingly similar trademark for its goods – even if it is a humorous parody. Justice Kagan writing for the Court held that the First Amendment does not give infringers license to trade on the … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Holds Warhol’s “Orange Prince” Not Transformative, Not Fair Use

The Supreme Court recently upheld an appellate court’s ruling that Andy Warhol’s use of a photograph of Prince as a reference for a collection of screen prints is not fair use – to the extent his foundation decided to license them at least. In the weeks that followed, the Supreme Court’s decision in Andy Warhol … Continue Reading

Federal Circuit Holds that Software Plaintiff Bears Evidentiary Burden of Copyrightability Where Defendant’s Evidence Shows Some Elements Not Copyrightable

In a case that could have some lasting impact, the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a 2020 ruling by Judge Rodney Gilstrap in the Eastern District of Texas dismissing claims that a competitor infringed non-literal elements of the plaintiff’s software. Because defendant World Programming Limited (“WPL”) had shown that some elements of plaintiff SAS Institute’s (“SAS”) … Continue Reading

District Court Rules Internet Archive’s Open Library Project is Not Fair Use

A federal district court in New York held that the Internet Archive’s Open Library project was engaging in copyright infringement by publishing digital copies of millions of books online. Even though the Internet Archive and participating libraries purchased print copies of the books and, for the most part, made them available to borrowers on a … Continue Reading

Ninth Circuit: Under the “Asserted Truth Doctrine” (f/k/a “Copyright Estoppel”) Authors of Nonfiction Cannot Later Claim a Work is Fictional to Pursue a Copyright Case

In an opinion that will be of particular interest to writers, the Ninth Circuit has confirmed that authors of non-fiction works cannot later claim that elements of their work were, in fact, fictional in order to extend the scope of copyright protection. The plaintiff in Corbello v. Valli et al., Case No. 17-16337 (9th Cir., … Continue Reading

Theranos and the “Broken” Patent System

ArsTechnica published an excellent piece on how the United States’ “broken” patent system permitted Theranos to obtain hundreds of patents for technology that did not work and did not meet the “enablement” requirement of 35 U.S.C. section 112.  According to author Daniel Nazer, the USPTO did virtually nothing to ensure that Theranos’ technology had been … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Clarifies That, Yes, You Have to Register Your Copyright, and No, You Cannot Recover Your Expert Witness Fees in Copyright Cases

In a pair of unanimous rulings on March 4, 2019, the Supreme Court clarified (1) that the U.S. Copyright Office must issue a registration certificate before a plaintiff can commence suit and (2) that a prevailing plaintiff cannot recover fees for expert witnesses, jury consultants or other “costs” that are not specifically called for in … Continue Reading

The Standard Remains the Same: Supreme Court Confirms PTAB Claims Construction Rules

The United States Supreme Court today unanimously decided to permit the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) to continue using a tougher standard for claims construction than the standard applied in litigation. In Cuozzo Speed Technologies LLC v. Lee, the Court ruled that the PTAB’s application of the so-called “broadest reasonable interpretation” standard was consistent … Continue Reading

Excellent Summary of the FCC’s Net Neutrality Order

With much publicity, the FCC recently released its Open Internet Order laying out the its revised net neutrality rules.  In an historic change of position, the Order, among other things, (1) reclassifies retail broadband internet access as subject to “common carrier” regulations, (2) imposes prohibits from giving preferred customers a “fast lane” to end-user customers, … Continue Reading

White House Announces Initiatives to Improve U.S. Patent System

As part of its initiative to make a difference through executive action (as opposed to going through Congress), the White House announced last week that it would implement several initiatives “designed to combat patent trolls and further strengthen our patent system and foster innovation.   These include (1) “promoting transparency” in the Patent and Trademark office … Continue Reading

Supreme Court Asks Solicitor General to Weigh in on Patent Extraterritoriality; Cert Seems More Likely

A case involving the extraterritorial application of the United States patent laws got a little closer to review by the United States Supreme Court today when the Court requested the Solicitor General weigh in on the issues presented.   In Maersk Drilling USA, Inc. v. Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, Inc. Case No.  13-43, the petitioner is … Continue Reading

FBI Shuts Down “Silk Road” Website; Arrests “Dread Pirate Roberts”

October 2, 2013:  Despite the government shut down, the FBI today shut down the infamous “Silk Road” website and arrested a San Francisco resident alleged to be the site’s administrator the “Dread Pirate Roberts.”  Silk Road has become renowned in recent years as an anonymous website used for trafficking in illicit substances and pirated goods … Continue Reading
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