Granting default judgment against defendants who re-uploaded extreme-weather videos to YouTube, a California federal court awarded $195,000 in copyright statutory damages and $28,000 under the DMCA, far below the $1.225 million requested.
A California federal court granted only part of a default judgment against defendants in Mexico who re-uploaded extreme-weather videos, finding several plaintiffs lacked standing, declining willfulness enhancements, and cutting requested damages and fees.
A California federal court awarded $177,500 for copied YouTube videos, removed copyright information, and false DMCA counter-notices.
An Eastern District of Texas court entered a $472,878 copyright default judgment and permanently enjoined online sellers from using Bee Cups’ media.
An Ohio federal court denied cross-motions for summary judgment in a t-shirt company’s copyright suit over Amazon’s Merch on Demand, holding that Amazon could be liable as a direct or vicarious infringer but granting Amazon summary judgment on contributory infringement under Cox v. Sony.
Applying the Supreme Court’s Cox v. Sony decision, an Ohio federal court dismissed a t-shirt company’s direct and contributory copyright claims against Google over third-party Shopping Ads, with leave to seek amendment.
An Ohio federal court held that a copyright plaintiff’s own allegations showed the Romo defendants began infringing before its works were registered, so 17 U.S.C. § 412 bars statutory damages and attorney’s fees against them.
A Northern District of California magistrate judge denied a $1.5 million default judgment against a Ukraine-based YouTube channel operator, because the video producer did not address personal jurisdiction, did not show it was the copyright owner who sent the takedown notices needed to sue under DMCA
A D.C. federal judge granted partial summary judgment for an Icelandic influencer on liability for 52 reposts of her photos and videos by a travel company’s Instagram and TikTok accounts, holding that outsourcing the posting to overseas contractors does not avoid direct infringement liability,
A California federal court held that Actian plausibly alleged direct, contributory, and vicarious copyright infringement based on Itron’s alleged distribution of database software beyond its licenses.
A Pennsylvania federal court held that Workers United plausibly alleged a live controversy over its Starbucks Workers United name and raised-fist logo, allowing its trademark and copyright declaratory claims to proceed.
A California federal court held that video creators plausibly alleged standing and a DMCA anti-circumvention claim based on ByteDance’s alleged bypass of YouTube safeguards to collect AI training data.
A Pennsylvania federal court awarded $400,000 in statutory damages per defendant and permanently enjoined 32 online sellers that willfully copied Nifty Home Products’ BACON BIN works.
The Third Circuit held that Westlaw headnotes are copyrightable and that a competing AI legal-research company did not fairly use them as training material.
A Connecticut federal court held that LEGO could not establish fair use as a matter of law for copying an artist’s painted jacket onto a Queer Eye minifigure, while dismissing the artist’s trade-dress claim for lack of likely confusion.
A Louisiana federal court held that Copyright Office registrations gave constructive notice that time-barred most of a former band member’s joint-ownership and royalty claims.
The D.C. Circuit vacated a Copyright Royalty Board allocation because the Board did not explain how it combined two divergent valuation methods.
A Massachusetts federal court denied a software company’s preliminary injunction because it lacked technical proof of copying or trade-secret use and waited nearly three years to seek relief.
The Third Circuit held that a professor could not copyright his geometric teaching approach and that two machine-learning courses lacked substantial similarity in protected expression.
A New Jersey federal court confirmed ownership of a blood-drip necklace copyright but held that access, actual copying, willfulness, and damages remain jury questions.
A Florida federal court held that a Spanish streaming operator’s paid subscriptions, advertising, and substantial Florida traffic supported personal jurisdiction over Tencent’s copyright and trademark claims.
A Florida federal court entered summary judgment against a design studio that could not connect the defendant to any reproduction or display of its registered architectural work.
The Ninth Circuit held that AI-generated code lacking attribution does not violate the DMCA unless copyright management information was removed or altered from an existing work or copy.
Producers who saw 1992 releases crediting someone else as sole writer could not assert copyright ownership decades later.