Ninth Circuit Assesses Copyright Damage Awards By Debbie Rosenbaum — Edited by Stephanie Weiner  Derek Andrew, Inc. v. Poof Apparel Corp. 9th Circuit, June 11, 2007 Slip Opinion  The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded in part the decision of the District Court for the Western District of Washington, which had awarded statutory damages under the Copyright Act for a copyright infringement, as well as attorney’s fees.  Under § 504(a) and (c) of the Copyright Act, a copyright owner can elect ... Read More...

District Court Denies Yoko Ono Lennon’s Motion for Injunctive Relief By Nicola Carah — Edited by Evie Breithaupt Lennon v. Premise Media Corp. S.D.N.Y., June 2, 2008, No. 08cv03813 Slip Opinion The District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Yoko Ono Lennon’s motion for preliminary injunctive relief in a case involving Premise Media Corp.’s use of a fifteen-second clip of the song “Imagine” in Expelled, its controversial documentary about intelligent design. The court found that the plaintiffs ... Read More...

Supreme Court Leaves in Place Eighth Circuit Test Favoring First Amendment Protection for Fantasy Sports By Dmitriy Tishyevich — Edited by Evie Breithaupt Major League Baseball Advanced Media v. C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing 8th Circuit, Oct 16, 2007, cert. denied June 2, 2008 Eighth Circuit Opinion, Supreme Court Order On June 2, the Supreme Court denied petition for a writ of certiorari from Major League Baseball Advanced Media (“MLB”). MLB had sought to appeal the Eighth Circuit’s decision, which held ... Read More...

European Court of Justice holds that EU law does not require ISPs to disclose subscriber information By Daniel Ray — Edited by Wen Bu Productores de Música de España (Promusicae) v. Telefónica de España S.A.U. European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber), January 29, 2008 Case C-275/06, 2008 CELEX no 62006J0275 (Jan. 29, 2008) Opinion On January 29, the European Court of Justice issued a Grand Chamber ruling in Promusicae v. Telefónica. The court held that European law does not require ... Read More...

Second Circuit Holds Copyright Class Action Claims Must Be Based on Registered Copyright By Andrew Ungberg — Edited by Wen Bu In Re Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation Second Circuit, November 29, 2007, No. 05-5943-cv(L) Slip Opinion On November 29, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated and remanded a decision of the District Court for the Southern District of New York to certify a class of freelance authors and accept a settlement of their copyright ... Read More...