When Is a Copyright "Registered"—at the Time of Application, or When the Copyright Office Issues the Certificate of Registration?
What happens if the copyright owner applies for copyright registration before the statute of limitations has run but the Copyright Office does not issue a certificate of registration until after the statute of limitations has run? That issue is scheduled to be argued before the United States Supreme Court on January 8, 2019.
Northern District of California Court Finds State-Law Trade Secrets Action Is Preempted by Federal Patent Law on Issue of Inventorship
A plaintiff’s identification of trade secrets is one of the most important aspects of trade secrets litigation, as this case illustrates.
A Discovery Ruling in the Northern District of California Raises a Novel Issue as to Liability for “Cross-Border” Circumventions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
In the case of the DVR user, there can be no doubt that the DVR user alone decided to copy the copyrighted work. In the case of the Ubiquiti employee, it was almost certainly not an individual employee who made the decision to use Synopsys’ software, and he or she may have been wholly unaware that it was being used (not to mention that it was being used without authorization from Synopsis).
Order Granting Summary Judgment in the District of Oregon Illustrates the Importance of Determining the Proper Plaintiff in a Copyright Action
An owner of a copyright who transfers exclusive rights may still have standing to sue on those rights if the owner qualifies as a “beneficial owner” of those rights.
Ninth Circuit Rejects License and Copyright Misuse Defenses
A new case from the Ninth Circuit illustrates that policy arguments cannot overcome the express language of a copyright license, and the difficult in asserting a copyright misuse defense. In Oracle USA, Inc., et al. v. Rimini Street, Inc., et al., 2018 WL 315568, F.3d (9th Cir. Jan. 8, 2018), the Ninth Circuit panel affirmed in part, reversed in part, and vacated in part the district court’s judgment after a jury trial in favor of Oracle USA, Inc., on its copyright infringement and state law claims against Rimini Street, Inc. and its CEO, Seth Ravin. Id.at *3. The opinion addressed issues of copyright infringement, violations, state law claims (California’s Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; the Nevada counter-part, the Nevada Computer Crimes Law; and California’s Unfair Competition Law), damages, interest, fees and costs, and injunctive relief.
The Ninth Circuit Holds That a Copyright Plaintiff Must Be Given Leave to Amend to Allege Similarities Between Works and a Plausible Chain of Events Linking Defendants
The Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff should have been given leave to amend to state with more specificity the similarities between the two works, and to plead facts that could describe a plausible chain of events linking the King Solomon treatment to defendants.