Category Archives: Supreme Court

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – Supreme Court Decision

29 Friday May 2009

Posted by in Copyright, Litigation, Supreme Court

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Copyright Litigation Decision – Supreme Court of Indiana

justices2

Conwell v. Grey Loon Outdoor Marketing Group, Inc.
No: 82S04-0806-CV-00309 (May 19, 2009)
Supreme Court of Indiana
Before: Sullivan, Dickson, Shepard, Rucker, and Boehm

Click here for full opinion.

COPYRIGHT; OWNERSHIP (A contractor who created copyrighted material for a principal was the owner because the work for hire doctrine applies only to employees, and the contractor never transferred the copyright.)

Opinion (Shepard): Plaintiff Piece of America (POA) contracted Grey Loon Outdoor Marketing Group (Grey Loon) to build a website. Grey Loon subsequently finished the website, and hosted it as well.  Eventually, POA failed to pay for ongoing hosting and work, and Grey Loon removed the website without making backup copies.  POA sued Grey Loon for conversion of the website.  Conversion requires ownership of the object converted.  If an employee creates copyrighted material in the scope of employment, the material belongs to the employee.  However, Grey Loon was an independent contractor, and therefore was the owner of the website.  Grey Loon also never transferred ownership of the website to POA. The court held that Grey Loon had merely granted an implied nonexclusive license to POA and therefore, Grey Loon was the owner of the copyright for the website.  Affirmed.

Source:  Willamette Law Online

People, be sure you clarify ownership of your website in your Website Design and Hosting Agreement.  More often than not, the copyright will remain with your designer unless you negotiate for it, which could raise the designer’s fees.

For a complete analysis of the facts of the case, check out Exclusive Rights, a copyright law blog.

Sotomayor's Supreme Court Case History – Intellectual Property

28 Thursday May 2009

Posted by in Copyright, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Supreme Court

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During Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s 17 years as a federal judge, the U.S. Supreme Court has reviewed her decisions on at least eight occasions, including the following copyright case:

Tasini vs. New York Times, et al (1997), 972 F. Supp. 804: As a district court judge in 1997, Sotomayor heard a case brought by a group of freelance journalists who asserted that various news organizations, including the New York Times, violated copyright laws by reproducing the freelancers’ work on electronic databases and archives such as “Lexis/Nexis” without first obtaining their permission. Sotomayor ruled against the freelancers and said that publishers were within their rights as outlined by the 1976 Copyright Act. The appellate court reversed Sotomayor’s decision, siding with the freelancers, and the Supreme Court upheld the appellate decision (therefore rejecting Sotomayor’s original ruling). Justices Stevens and Breyer dissented, taking Sotomayor’s position.

Source: CNN

Obama's Pick for Supreme Court, Sotomayor, has Intellectual Property Background

26 Tuesday May 2009

Posted by in Intellectual Property, Litigation, Supreme Court

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sotomayor

President Obama has selected Sonia Sotomayor to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by retiring Justice Souter.  Prior to being selected to the federal bench in 1991 by George Bush, Sotomayor was in private practice in New York…and her specialty was intellectual property law.  She represented clients like Ferrari and Fendi in intellectual property, commodities trading and business cases.

The president had said publicly that he wanted a justice who combined intellect and empathy — someone who could understand the troubles of everyday Americans.

From an IP viewpoint, let’s hope her background can help the Supreme Court make some sense out of upcoming copyright and patent litigation.

Here is a brief biography of federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor:

Age 54 (Born June 25, 1954)

Judicial Career
– U.S. Appeals Court judge, 2nd Circuit, 1998-present
– U.S. District Court judge, 1992-1998
– Nominated to federal bench by Bush in 1991, Clinton in 1997

Government/Legal Career
– Former N.Y. County Assistant District Attorney, 1979-1984
– Former private practice attorney, Pavia & Harcourt, New York, 1984-1992

Politics
– Confirmed by Senate 67-29 in 1998
– Confirmation to current seat took over 1 year
– Was opposed by majority of Republican senators
– Was unopposed in 1991 confirmation process

Education
– J.D., Yale Law School, 1979
– B.A., Princeton, 1976 (summa cum laude)

Academic Positions
– Adjunct Professor, New York University School of Law since 1998
– Lecturer-in-law, Columbia Law School since 1999

Professional Associations
– American Bar Association
– Puerto Rican Bar Association
– Hispanic National Bar Association
– Association of Judges of Hispanic Heritage
– New York Women’s Bar Association

Judicial Committees & Activities
Former Member, Second Circuit Task Force on Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness
in the Courts

Other Activities
– Former Member, Board of Directors, New York City Campaign Finance Board
– Former Member, Board of Directors, State of New York Mortgage Agency
– Former Member, Board of Directors, Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education
Fund
– Former Member, Board of Directors, Maternity Center Association
– Former Member, New York City Campaign Public Finance Board (Mayor’s
Appointee)
– Former Member, Board of Directors, State of New York Mortgage Agency
(Governor’s Appointee)

Honors & Awards
– Herbert L. Lehman College, Degree of Law Honoris Causa, 1999
– Brooklyn Law School Degree of Juris Doctor Honoris Causa, 2001
– Princeton Univ., Degree of Juris Doctor Honoris Causa, 2001

Publications
– Statehood and the Equal Footing Doctrine: The Case for Puerto Rican Seabed
Rights, 88 Yale Law Journal 825 (1979)
– Sonia Sotomayor & Nicole A. Gordon, Returning Majesty to the Law and
Politics: A Modern Approach, 30 Suffolk U.L. Rev. 35 (1996)