Since the emergence of social media, courts, content creators, and publishers alike have been grappling with legal issues concerning the practice of “embedding” copyrighted content.  Following the controversial February 2019 decision in Goldman v. Breitbart News, LLC – rejecting the Ninth Circuit’s “server test” and holding that an embed constitutes a “public display” exposing a

In a technical win for states facing federal claims under the Copyright Act, on Monday, March 23, 2020, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Copyright Clarification Act of 1990 (the “CRCA”), which had allowed states to be sued in federal court for copyright infringement.  Allen v. Cooper, No. 18-877, 2020 WL 1325815 (U.S.

With the recent spread of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 and its unprecedented precipitation of social-distancing, work-from-home policies, shelter-in-place orders, and limitations on foreign travel, many individuals may be questioning whether certain contractual obligations are excused. This article provides a primer on the contract concepts of force majeure, impossibility and impracticability, and related provisions that affect,

Four years ago, we reported on a headline-worthy copyright infringement lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dealing with tattoos in video games. The case was brought by a licensing entity for tattoo artists against the makers of the popular NBA 2K games over depictions of real-life basketball

Following hot on the heels of the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision clearing Led Zeppelin of copyright infringement allegations relating to the classic “Stairway to Heaven” (which we reported here), a California federal judge last week overturned a jury’s finding of copyright infringement against Katy Perry regarding the pop hit “Dark Horse.”  Songwriters still nervous

When the full Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on en banc rehearing issued its opinion in the appeal of the widely reported Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven case on March 9, 2020, the court took a substantial step in providing guidance for future copyright infringement claims based on allegations of “substantial similarity” between songs.  The

In a decision that will likely be seen as a victory for photojournalism, a judge in the Eastern District of New York recently rejected the legal argument that an iPhone photograph, taken by a passerby who was in the right place at the right time, lacked originality.  The decision represents a turn away from what

Having recently attended a symposium co-sponsored by the United States Copyright Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization on Copyright & Artificial Intelligence, Nancy noted that as AI infiltrates modern life, the effects on the content licensing industry, creators and copyright will be enormous. Read all about it here.