Intellectual Property News and Reports

This dispute concerns whether, for Copyright Act purposes, the screenwriter Victor Miller was an employee or independent contractor of the film production company Manny, Inc., in 1979, when Miller wrote the screenplay for the landmark horror film Friday the 13th,... Read more →

The panel reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant based on a putative de minimis use defense in a copyright case, and remanded for consideration of remaining defenses and damages issues. The panel held... Read more →

The panel reversed the district court’s grant of partial summary judgment to Flo & Eddie, Inc. in its action against Sirius XM satellite radio, seeking royalties for pre-1972 songs that were played on Sirius XM without permission or compensation. The... Read more →

Designworks Homes, Inc., thinks that a group of architects and other builders copied one of its home designs. It also believes that, even if there was no copyright violation, it should not have to reimburse the alleged infringers for their... Read more →

In sum, we hold that § 120(a) does not provide a defense to copyright infringement to real estate companies, their agents, and their contractors when they generate and publish floorplans of homes they list for sale. Our decision does not... Read more →

This appeal brings a variation on the often-thorny question of whether a claim involving a copyright arises under federal law. If Di Angelo Publications’ claim to a copyright requires a construction of copyright law, there is exclusive federal jurisdiction; but... Read more →

We agree with Disney that interpretation of its agreements with Gilkyson is subject to de novo review; Gilkyson’s right to receive royalties from exploitation of the mechanical reproduction rights in “The Bare Necessities” and other songs he wrote for The... Read more →

The issue in this interlocutory appeal from the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction is whether a copyright infringement claim against a governmental entity may be maintained as a constitutional takings claim. The court of appeals concluded “that a... Read more →

Copyright law protects individual expression while encouraging creativity and maintaining the public interest in spreading ideas. In recent years, however, a cottage industry of opportunistic copyright holders—earning the derisive moniker “intellectual property trolls”—has emerged, in which a troll enforces copyrights... Read more →

"The Game of Life" is a classic family board game, introduced in 1960 by the Milton Bradley Company to great success. This case involves a long-running dispute between Rueben Klamer, a toy developer who came up with the initial concept... Read more →