Copyright Law

Woman sues Associated Press for selling her photo in a hijab as a stock photo

A Queens, New York, woman has sued the Associated Press and AP photographer Mark Lennihan for taking and selling a photo of her, the Washington Post’s Volokh Conspiracy reported Monday. Fifi Youssef wears a hijab, the head covering for women from parts of the Muslim world. Lennihan took her photo…

Jan 26, 2016 4:25 PM CST

Judge refuses to toss graffiti artist’s suit claiming his mural was used on dress worn by Katy Perry

A federal judge in California has refused to dismiss a lawsuit by a graffiti artist who claims the Moschino apparel brand used his work on a dress worn by pop star Katy Perry at an art gala. U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson ruled for the graffiti artist known as Rime,…

Jan 19, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Monster Beverage Corp. settles copyright cases over Beastie Boys tunes

Monster Beverage Corp. has settled on undisclosed terms two related lawsuits that accused the company of using without permission excerpts from five Beastie Boys songs in a 4-minute video promotion of a Canadian snowboarding event, Reuters reports. The iconic hip-hop group, which does not license its music for advertising and…

Jan 15, 2016 2:55 PM CST

Does monkey have standing to assert copyright in selfie photos? Judge is skeptical

A federal judge in San Francisco hearing arguments on Wednesday appeared unlikely to find standing in a copyright suit filed on a behalf of a monkey who shot selfies published in a wildlife book. U.S. District Judge William Orrick said during the hearing there was no indication the federal copyright…

Jan 7, 2016 10:59 AM CST

‘Big Bang Theory’ producers are sued over ‘Soft Kitty’ song

A lawsuit filed last week contends The Big Bang Theory television show is violating a copyright obtained by a New Hampshire nursery school teacher for a “Soft Kitty” poem she wrote in the 1930s. The suit by the heirs of teacher Edith Newlin says the poem has been used in…

Jan 7, 2016 6:15 AM CST

Retailers may sell books and movies on Rosa Parks without paying her institute

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that retailers may sell books and movies about the life of civil rights leader Rosa Parks, the Birmingham News reported yesterday. The nonprofit Raymond and Rosa Parks Institute for Self Development had sued Target for selling seven books about Parks,…

Jan 5, 2016 5:05 PM CST

Judge tosses plagiarism case against Fox and its hit sitcom, ‘New Girl’

Fox got a late Christmas gift as a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit alleging the network’s hit comedy, New Girl, was plagiarized from another script with a similar concept. The Hollywood Reporter’s THR, Esq. blog reported Monday that U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson of Los Angeles has granted…

Jan 4, 2016 4:45 PM CST

Michael Jordan donates ‘multimillion-dollar’ settlement in advertising case to Chicago charities

After winning a $8.9 million jury verdict earlier this year in a federal lawsuit over unauthorized supermarket advertising, basketball legend Michael Jordan has reached a settlement and donated the proceeds to charity. He settled last month for an undisclosed sum both the suit against Dominick’s and related litigation against Jewel-Osco,…

Dec 16, 2015 1:45 PM CST

Songwriter sues Huckabee over use of ‘Eye of the Tiger’ at campaign event

The campaign organization for Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is facing a copyright infringement suit over music played at a rally. The event featured both Huckabee and Kim Davis, the controversial Kentucky clerk once jailed for refusing to permit same-sex marriages. Filed Wednesday in federal court in Illinois, the suit…

Nov 19, 2015 5:00 PM CST

YouTube to pay defense costs for some video creators facing takedown demands

Seeking to protect the free speech rights of video creators, and perhaps its own market share as well, YouTube announced Thursday that it is funding legal defense costs for a handful of video creators facing unreasonable takedown demands. “We want, when we can, to have our users’ backs,” Fred von…

Nov 19, 2015 3:50 PM CST

Taylor Swift shakes off copyright suit; judge invokes her lyrics in opinion

A federal magistrate judge in California used Taylor Swift’s lyrics to dismiss a pro se lawsuit filed by a songwriter who claimed the song “Shake It Off” infringed the copyright for his own song “Haters Gone Hate.” In a Nov. 10 order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gail Standish of Los Angeles…

Nov 13, 2015 8:11 AM CST

Standing issue gives Jay Z win in infringement suit over ‘Big Pimpin’’

A federal judge has ended an infringement trial against Jay Z over his song ‘Big Pimpin’’ with a ruling that the Egyptian plaintiff did not have standing to bring the claim on behalf of his late uncle. U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder of Los Angeles ruled for Jay Z and…

Oct 22, 2015 8:01 AM CDT

Google’s book copying project isn’t infringement, 2nd Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has tossed a lawsuit claiming Google’s book scanning project is infringing copyrights. The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Friday that the digital scanning is fair use because only book snippets show up in search results, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog…

Oct 19, 2015 8:54 AM CDT

Refilming ‘Escape from New York’ plot in outer-space setting violated copyright law, court rules

When the French sci-fi film Lockout was released in 2012, critics noticed how similar the storyline was to the 1981 cult classic Escape from New York, albeit now taking place in outer space. A French court saw substantial similarities, too, ruling that those who made the French film plagiarized from…

Oct 16, 2015 1:20 PM CDT

City owes $117K in legal fees to critic it sued over meeting clips in his YouTube videos

A California city must pay more than $117,000 in attorney’s fees for a critic it sued over alleged copyright infringement due to government meeting footage he included in his YouTube videos. The Inglewood meeting footage couldn’t be copyrighted, a federal judge ruled in August, and on Thursday he made the…

Oct 14, 2015 10:10 AM CDT