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Did social media site Pinterest indirectly infringe a photographer’s copyrighted images simply by maintaining a site where its users could possibly do just that? No, said a California federal judge, who dismissed the photographer’s suit. Even contributory infringement requires knowledge of specific acts of infringement. READ MORE
If you have been itching to use someone’s social media content – despite all the warnings you’ve heard from copyright lawyers – there’s finally a way to do it. At least as to Instagram, if you use one of Instagram’s tools to embed a public Instagram post within your own posting, you will not infringe the original user’s copyright. READ MORE
Because they allow recoveries of up to $150,000 per infringed work, statutory damages are a powerful copyright remedy. In a recent copyright infringement case, a defendant tried – and failed – to argue the copyright owner should not be entitled to statutory damages because of its “litigious business strategy.” READ MORE
Two cases involving photographs of city skylines illustrate what is, and isn’t, copyright infringement. READ MORE
A fleeting glimpse of graffiti in the background of an HBO series does not constitute copyright infringement, a federal judge has ruled. READ MORE
The Internet-famous feline known as Grumpy Cat won a substantial jury verdict in a copyright case that demonstrates the importance of securing a clear agreement from license owners before adding their likeness to additional products. READ MORE
To secure evidence for an anticipated lawsuit against TV host Dr. Phil McGraw, a producer for the show, Leah Rothman, recorded nine seconds of the show’s unaired archive footage onto her cellphone. The employee probably felt she had a strong case for making the recording. But a decision entered against her shows that fair use is never simple and straightforward, and can be argued from many different angles. READ MORE
In an update to our post on a case filed last year, a federal court in New York recently denied appropriation artist Richard’s Prince’s motion to dismiss Donald Graham’s copyright infringement lawsuit. READ MORE
Richard Prince used Eric McNatt’s 2014 photograph of Alex Gordon by cropping McNatt’s photograph, surrounding it with his Instagram frame, and adding three lines of text and emojis. READ MORE
A Texas-based photographer has sued a sports media website for allegedly selling copies of his copyrighted photo of an infamous scuffle at second base between pro baseball players Rougned Odor and Jose Bautista. READ MORE
What happens when you use legitimate means to achieve despicable ends? In the case of two attorneys at the center of a high-profile copyright enforcement scheme involving pornographic movies, you end up on the receiving end of a federal indictment. READ MORE
Earlier this year, just hours before beginning jury selection, Fox News settled a copyright dispute regarding its use of Thomas Franklin’s iconic photograph, “Raising the Flag at Ground Zero,” thus leaving its fair use argument unresolved. READ MORE
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