The issues where technology and intellectual property laws collide were discussed in the Ninth Circuit’s opinion in Hunley v. Instagram, LLC,[1] decided on July 17, 2023. In Hunley, the Ninth Circuit re-affirmed the so-called Server Test limiting liability for copyright infringement. Facts Plaintiffs Alexis Hunley and Matthew Brauer both posted their photographic works on their …
Category: Fair Use
Limitations on Transformative Use: SCOTUS Finds Nothing Transformative in Warhol’s Use of Goldsmith’s Prince Photo
Reviewing the last U.S. Supreme Court 2022 term, the highest court decided several high-profile cases involving intellectual property rights. The keyword among these cases is “limitation.” There are limitations on the breadth of particular areas of IP law. These limitations will affect the IP holder’s rights, as well as those who are infringing those rights. …
Fair Use Not Found in Foreign Judgment Case
In the runup to the issuance of the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith,[1] which is due sometime in the spring 2023, which will deal with the major issue of transformative use as part of first factor in the four-factor test for fair use under U.S. …
Second Circuit Will Not Yet Hear Embedded Tweet Appeal
In a somewhat unsurprising move, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied an interlocutory appeal (28 U.S.C. §1292) requested by publisher defendants in Heavy, Inc. v. Goldman.[1] The order can be found here 18-910_goldman-CA2_intapp_dend. As discussed in an earlier posting on this blog, the district court case, Goldman v. Breitbart News Network, LLC, held …
Fed Circuit Watch: Google Use of Java APIs Not Fair Use
One of the most important copyright cases was recently decided by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, addressing Google’s use of Java code owned by Oracle. On March 27, 2018, in Oracle America, Inc. v. Google LLC,[1] the Fed Circuit held that Google’s use of Oracle’s Java code was not fair use. This …
Snippets Not Fair Use According to Second Circuit
In another fairly big copyright decision by a federal court of appeals, another seeming technological innovation in the digital space was viewed as copyright infringement. The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc.,[1] on February 27, 2018, in a case that will most likely have broader …
Embedded Tweet Can Be Copyright Infringement, According to NY Court
On February 15, 2018, a federal judge sitting in the Southern District of New York issued an opinion that could have profound ramifications for the average Internet user. In the case, Goldman v. Breitbart News Network LLC,[1] Judge Katherine Forrest ruled that the linking party responsible for a tweet with an embedded photo had committed …