Copyright Cases

Millar v. Taylor

Copyright existed as statutory + common law under the King’s Bench

Donaldson v. Beckett

Scottish bookseller injunction from printing Thomson’s book — bound by Millar to grant perpetual injunction

Wheaton v. Peters

Plaintiff also argued author was entitled at common law to perpetual property in copy of his words + profits + recover damages

Burrow-Giles Lithographic v. Savony

Authors + inventors BUT photographs; author as an originator 

Bielstein v. Donaldson

Chromolithographs: An illustration designed and produced for use as an advertisement is not precluded from copyright protection solely on the basis of its commercial nature.

Alfred Bell v. Catalda

Mezzotint Engravings; novelty NOT required

Feist Publications

Telephone book; compilations ARE copyrightable but not here as facts are NOT copyrightable 

Kelley v. Chicago

Lacked originality for flower arrangement — living garden that can ONLY grow a certain way

Baitlin v. Snyder

Model bank; minor differences was not enough as it was a mere reproduction rather than a sign of creativity 

Chinese Yellow

Selectively chose businesses to include in the phone book that would be of interest to the Chinese Community — originality in compilation

Naruto v. Slater

Monkey selfie case — human authorship requirement

Thaler v. Perimutter

Attempted to get patents on machine BUT listed creativity machine as author — Human authorship required

Zarya of the Dawn

Protection for writing of the comic but NOT for the individual images of the AI generated comic — Lack of creative intent that creates no human authorship

Theatre D’ Opera

Providing instructions and selection output is NOT enough to be human authorship for AI 

Nicols v. Universal

Idea-expression dichotomy; general themes and basic plot devices are NOT covered

Baker v. Selden

No copyright to explanatory test in novel system of accounting — functional system

Bikram Yoga

Sequence of Yoga poses NOT copyrightable as the existence of alternative choices does NOT make it NOT functional

Morrissey v. Procter

Set of Rules for sweepstakes — can only be expressed in a limited number of ways; NOT accurate to say any particular form of expression that comes from the subject matters 

Lexmark v. Static Control

Print cartridges contain single computer program and authentication code on embedded microchip — computer programs CAN be protected 

Georgia v. Public Resource.org

Protection does cover Georgia’s annotated code as annotations were OUTSOURCED

American Society for Testing + Materials v. Public Resource

Making copyrightable work freely available online without permission — use of standards essential to public understanding of legal duties constitutes fair use

Oracle v. Google

Re implementing computer code in a new context is fair use — merger NOT applied at time of infringement

Wheaton v. Peters

SCOTUS rulings NOT copyrightable

Public R.O

Gets different with incorporate standards by private/public body

American Dental

Comparing taxonomies to compilations being copyrightable

Gyles v. Wilcox

One of earliest reported decisions on fair abridgement — doctrine that evolved into law of fair use

Folsom v. March

Reproduction of works — literal copying infringement

Harper & Bros v. Kalem

Film based on book was NOT a copy of the book — “pics only represent the artist’s idea of what the author has expressed in word”

White-Smith

Mechanical encodings of music NOT human-readable still copies

Bright Tunes

Features in common between “My Sweet Lord” and “He’s so Fine” — subconscious copying is STILL copying

MAI Systems Co

Computer hardware requires proprietary software to operate — RAM copies = copies

Cartoon Network v. CSC

Record programs; no bit of data remains in any buffer for more than 1-2 seconds — Fixed form for sufficient time 

Sheldon v. MG

In computing an award of profits against an infringer of a copyright, there may be an apportionment so as to give to the owner of the copyright only that part of the profits found to be attributable to the use of the copyrighted material

Arnstein v. Porter

Actual copying + circumstantial proof (substantial similarity) & Too similar to be permissible (wrongful copying) 

Bradbury

Similarities but NOT enough overall — A Sound of Diff Drummers TV show direct evidence of access and similarities

Ideal Toy

Factual question of substantial similarity — average lay observer would recognize the difference

Roth Greeting Card

Same total concept + feel are the same which indicates substantial similarity

Sid & Morty Kroft TV

Bad actors BUT copyright is NOT a law of morality — Has there been copying of the expression of an idea?

Reyher v. C

Children’s book with a lost child looking for mom did NOT have infringement 

Three Boys Music v. Bolton

Jury intrinsic test — “Love is a wonderful thing””

Swirsky v. Corey

Evidence is insufficient to show song similarity

Peter F. Gaito v. Simone

Ideas + concepts limit of taken ideas/parts

Rentmeester v. Nike

Extrinsic objective similarities (protectable) — Nike photographer also made creative choices

Williams v. Gaye

Right to reverse jury ruling

Folsom v. Marsh

Literal copying required to show infringement

Callum

Film version is a dramatization of the book; dramatization of the film which is a dramatization of the book 

Skidmore v. Zeppelin

Lower standard of proof of substantial similarity when a high degree of access is shown — inverse burden rule

Peters v. West

Close collab or direct access NOT NEEDED

Art Attacks Ink

Widely spread/disseminated original work that can NOT have not seen

Selle v. Gibb

Unusual striking enough to indicate access under striking similarity

Design Basics LLC

Unicolors Inc

Francescatti v. Germanotta

Computer Association v. Alta

D’Almaine v. Boosey

Solid Oak Sketches

Kelley v. Morning Bee

Bridgeport

VMG Salsoul

Blurred Lines

Lee v. Art

Litchfield v. Spielberg

Lewis Galoob Toys

Warner Brothers v. RDR

Castle Rock Entertainment

Penguin Random v. Colting

Keeling v. Hars

Disney v. VidAngel

Campbell v. Acuff

Andy Warhol

Sony Betamax

Harper & Row

Green Day v. Seltz

Lars v. Keeling

Bond v. Blum

Shell v. City

Jartech

Hustler Magazine v. Moral Majority

Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp

Perfect 10 v. Amazon

Bill Graham Archives v. Dorling

Elvis Presley Entertainment v. Passport Vid

Sofa Entertainment v. Dodger

LA News Service v. KCAL-TV Channel 9

Nunez v. Caribbean International News

Monge v. Maya Magazines

Swatch Group v. Bloomberg

20th Century Music v. Aikan

Recording Industrial Association

Fox Broadcasting Co

Infinity Broadcast v. Kirkwood

A&M Records v. Napster

American Geophysical Union v. Texaco

Authors Guild v. HathiTRUST

AGU v. Texaco

Basic Books v. Kinko

Princeton University Press v. MDS