Thomas Long

Infringement claims based on failure to obtain licenses for three other songs failed because the plaintiff licensing company did not hold exclusive rights in those works. The vocal music director of…

Jury instructions not erroneous or prejudicial to plaintiff; court dumps "inverse ratio rule" providing for lower standard of proof of substantial similarity when a high degree of access is shown…

Because hard drives used in audio recording devices in cars sold by Ford, GM, and Chrysler did not contain "only sounds," they were not covered by the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992. The Alliance…

The paintings, although temporary, had achieved "recognized stature" as artworks and were protected by the Visual Artists Rights Act. Artists who created "aerosol art" paintings on the exteriors of…

The question of whether the plaintiffs’ allegedly infringed lyrics were sufficiently original to be copyright-able was a fact-intensive issue that should not have been determined on the pleadings…

Protected elements of illustrated children’s book were not substantially similar to defendants’ book and animated adaptation as a matter of law. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has affirmed…

A defendant need not obtain a favorable judgment on the merits in order to be a "prevailing party" under the fee-shifting provisions of the Copyright Act and Lanham Act. Case date: 25 March 2019 Case…

The resale of copyrighted digital sound recordings through a web-based "virtual" marketplace for "pre-owned" digital music operated by ReDigi Inc. was not protected from copyright infringement claims…

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has vacated in part a district court’s judgment after a jury trial in favor of the defendants and remanded for a new trial in a copyright infringement suit…