In Webster v. Dean Guitars, 2020 WL 1887783 (11th Cir. Apr. 16, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for a guitar manufacturer in a copyright dispute over the lightning storm graphic on “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott’s iconic guitar, known as “The Dean from Hell.” The district court properly determined that…
Category: Intellectual Property
Supreme Court Will Review Eleventh Circuit’s Decision that Official Code of Georgia Annotated Cannot Be Copyrighted
The Supreme Court yesterday granted certiorari to review the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 906 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2018), cert. granted, 2019 WL 1047486 (U.S. June 24, 2019). The question presented for review in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. is whether the principle that “government edicts,” such as statutes and…
Eleventh Circuit Takes District Court to School Over Educational Fair-Use Copyright Dispute
In Cambridge University Press v. Albert, 2018 WL 5095004 (11th Cir. Oct. 19, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit issued its second decision in a decade-long dispute over Georgia State University’s practice of distributing digital excerpts of copyrighted works to students without paying a royalty. The district court now faces its third trial to assess the fair-use…
Laws for the People, By the People, Are Not Copyrightable
A March 23, 2017 order from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia immediately prompted headlines such as “If you publish Georgia’s state laws, you’ll get sued for copyright and lose.” The case, Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 244 F. Supp. 3d 1350 (N.D. Ga. 2017), examined whether the Official…
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari on Copyright Issue
The Supreme Court this morning granted certiorari on a circuit split involving the Eleventh Circuit. The Eleventh Circuit (along with the Eighth) has previously held that the fee provisions of the Copyright Act, which allow recovery of the “full costs” of attendance, do not displace general statutes that limit awards to taxable costs. Artisan Contractors Ass’n…
Defendant Sails to Victory in Trade Secret Case
In Yellowfin Yachts, Inc. v. Barker Boatworks, LLC, 2018 WL 3734344 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit upheld the dismissal of trade-secret claims related to the manufacture and sale of fishing boats. Yellowfin Yachts is a manufacturer of high-end fishing boats, allegedly known in the marketplace for the “swept sheer line” of their…
Foreign Companies Can Acquire U.S. Trademark Rights without Direct Sales to Consumers
Direct Niche, LLC v. Via Varejo S/A, 2018 WL 3687868 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2018), emphasizes that foreign companies can acquire trademark and service mark rights in the United States even without selling products directly to consumers domestically. Instead, contracts with third parties and publication of the mark are sufficient to confer rights. The Eleventh…
Eleventh Circuit Digs Deep to Revive SCAD Trademark Suit
In an October 3, 2017, opinion, a panel of the Eleventh Circuit reversed the Northern District of Georgia’s grant of summary judgment for the defendant in a trademark-infringement suit brought by Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). In Savannah College of Art and Design, Inc. v. Sportswear, Inc., 2017 WL 4369451, the court held…
Eleventh Circuit Weighs in on Circuit Split Defining Copyright Registration
Registration of a copyright is a precondition to a suit for copyright infringement. The Eleventh Circuit joined the minority of circuits to have addressed whether registration occurs when an owner files an application to register the copyright or when the Register of Copyrights registers the copyright in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC,…
Fee Awards – Maybe an Art; Not a Science
In Yellow Pages Photos, Inc. v. Ziplocal, LP, 2017 WL 343520 (11th Cir. Jan. 24, 2017), the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court’s decision to use a mathematical formula to award costs and fees in proportion to the degree of success in litigation of the underlying claims. Yellow Pages Photos, Inc. (“YPPI”) and Ziplocal entered…