This document summarizes recent developments in copyright law from 2012. It discusses legislation such as SOPA/PIPA being derailed in the US. It also discusses the Beijing WIPO Treaty on audiovisual performances providing new rights. Litigation involving copyright infringement was up 25% in 2011. Publishers have sued patent firms for copyright infringement in cases similar to the Texaco case. Other topics covered include public performance rights, termination notices, the public domain, jurisdiction, originality, copyrightability, the DMCA, mass digitization efforts by Google and others, fair use determinations, licensing disputes, actual damages awards, and the first sale doctrine.

1. COPYRIGHT CURRENT
DEVELOPMENTS!
Katherine C. Spelman
Cobalt, LLP
Berkeley, CA
ICLE’s 38th Annual
IP Law Summer Institute
Grand Traverse
July 19-21, 2012

2. Legislation – U.S.!
• SOPA/PIPA and the January 18th Internet
Tantrum
• Legislation derailed

3. Beijing WIPO Treaty on
Audiovisual Performances !
• June 26th, 2012 marked first treaty in
copyright since 1996
• Provides rights to audiovisual performers
similar to those that music performers
have already under WIPO

4. Copyright Litigation
25% up!
• Law 360, Erin Coe “IP Litigation Takes
Off in First Half of 2011”

5. Publishers suing
Patent Firms - 03/2012 !
Texaco Redux?!
• Wiley v. McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert &
Berghoff (MBHB), No. 12-CV-01446 (N.D.
Ill).
• Wiley v. Schwegman Lundberg, No. 12-528
(RHK/JJK) (U.S.D.C. Minn.)

6. Public Performance!
• American Broadcasting Co. v. Aereo,
Inc., 12 CIV 1540 (AJN) (S.D.N.Y. July
11, 2012)

7. Termination
Notice - Standing!
• Scorpio Music v. Willis, 2012 WL
1598043, 1 (S.D. Cal. 2012)
– 30% enough, not statutory 51% "

8. Public Domain!
• Warner Bros. Enterm’t, Inc. v. X One
X Prods., 644 F.3d 584 (8th Cir.
2011)

9. Standing !
• Righthaven, LLC v. Hoehn, 792 F.
Supp. 2d 1138, (D. Nev. 2011)

10. Jurisdiction!
• Shropshire v. Canning, 809 F.Supp.2d 1139,
1145 (N.D.Cal. 2011)
– All Canadian acts, except upload was to YouTube
servers in California

11. Originality!
• Nielsen Co. (US), LLC v. Truck Ads,
LLC, 2011 WL 3857122, 1 (N.D. Ill.
Aug. 29, 2011)

12. Copyrightability!
• Oracle v. Google, No. C-10-03561,
U.S.D.C. N.D. Ca. (June 1, 2012)
– Oracle’s Java APIs not copyrightable

13. DMCA!
• Personal Keepsake Inc. v.
Personalizationmall.com, Inc., 2012 WL
414803 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 8, 2012)

14. DMCA!
• Capitol Records Inc. v. MP3tunes LLC,
2011 WL 3667335 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 22,
2011)

15. DMCA!
• Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network Inc.,
2011 WL 940056 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 17,
2011)

16. DMCA!
• Viacom International, Inc., v. YouTube,
Inc., 10-3270-cv, 2012 WL 1130851 (2d
Cir. Apr. 5, 2012)

17. Oldest Copyright Class
Action (1997): Certification
Fails!
• In re: Literary Works in
Electronic Databases (Aug.
17, 2011)

18. Mass Digitization!
• Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc., (2011)
– Formerly called ‘GBS’
– Infringement alleged
– Defense claims ‘Fair Use’

19. Mass Digitization!
• American Society of Media
Photographers (ASMP) v. Google
– Not consolidated with Authors Guild
– Infringement alleged
– Defense claims ‘Fair Use’

20. Mass Digitization!
• The Authors Guild v. Hathi Trust,
(S.D.N.Y. 2011)
– Hathi Trust = academic universal library
– Authors Guild claims unauthorized
library copies of Google Corpus
infringed by HathiTrust

21. Google Book Cases !
2012 Docket Dates!
• Authors Guild, Inc. v. Google, Inc. - September 6th
Summary Judgment hearing
• ASMP v. Google, Inc. - October 29th Summary
Judgment briefing ends
• Authors Guild, Inc. v. Hathi Trust - November Trial

22. Fair Use!
• Publishers v. Georgia State (2012)
– May 14, 2012, 390 page opinion
– 99 claims of infringement & 5 found infringing
– Bright line test = 1 chapter or 10% Fair Use

23. Fair Use !
• Cariou v. Prince, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS
29070 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 18, 2011)

24. Licensing!
• Kno, Inc. v Cengage Learning, Inc., N.D.
CA CV 12-00121 (Jan. 6, 2012)

25. Post E-Bay Injunction!
• Flexible Lifeline Sys., Inc. v. Precision Lift,
Inc., 654 F.3d 989 (9th Cir. 2011)
– End of an era – proven, not presumed

26. Actual
Damages!
• Gaylord v. U.S., 98 Fed. Cl. 389
(2011)

27. Actual damages!
• Oracle USA Inc. v. SAP AG, 100 USPQ2d 1450
(N.D. Cal. Sept. 1, 2011)
– Facts:
• Jury awards Oracle $1.3 Billion in Actual Damages based on
“hypothetical negotiation.”
• Defendant moves for new trial

28. Licensing!
• Range Road Music Inc. v. East Coast
Foods Inc., 668 F.3d 1148 (9th Cir. 2012)

29. First Sale
Doctrine!
• Adobe Sys. Inc. v. Hoops Enter. LLC,
2012 WL 892162 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 14,
2012)

30. First Sale
Doctrine!
• John Wiley & Sons Inc. v. Kirtsaeng, 654
F.3d 210 (2d Cir. 2011)

31. Archive Versions!!
• Aviation Software Inc. v. United States, 100
U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1943 (Fed. Cir. 2011)

32. Fee Award!
• Brownmark Films LLC v. Comedy Partners,
101 USPQ2d 1241 (E.D. Wis. Nov. 30, 2011)

33. Questions?!
Thank You!