Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

A former congressman created personalized videos for paying customers through the Cameo platform. A late-night television host, using fictitious names, requested and purchased several of these videos. The host then broadcast some of the videos on his show as part of a recurring segment that mocked the congressman by highlighting his willingness to say unusual things for money. The congressman claimed that this use of his videos infringed his copyrights and also violated state law through breach of contract and fraudulent inducement.The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York reviewed the case and dismissed the complaint. The court found that the copyright claims were barred by the fair use doctrine, reasoning that the television host’s use was transformative and did not harm the market for the original videos. The court also held that the state law claims were either preempted by the Copyright Act or failed to state a claim under applicable state law. Specifically, the court determined that the congressman was not a party to the relevant contract, failed to allege the essential terms of any implied contract, and did not plead any actual out-of-pocket loss for the fraudulent inducement claim.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s judgment. The appellate court agreed that the copyright claims were barred by the fair use doctrine, emphasizing the transformative nature of the use and the lack of market harm. The court also concluded that the state law claims failed to state a claim for relief, either because the congressman was not a party to the contract, did not allege an implied contract, or failed to allege actual damages. The judgment of the District Court was affirmed in full. View "Santos v. Kimmel" on Justia Law

The case involves a dispute over the rights to stage adaptations of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird." In 1969, Lee granted The Dramatic Publishing Company (Dramatic) the exclusive rights to develop and license a stage adaptation of the novel for non-first-class productions. Decades later, Lee terminated this grant and authorized a new stage adaptation, with Atticus Limited Liability Company (Atticus) holding the rights to produce this second adaptation. Atticus sought a declaration from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York that its performances did not infringe on any copyright interest held by Dramatic. Dramatic argued that it retained exclusive rights under the Copyright Act's derivative works exception and that Atticus's acquisition of rights was invalid.The district court rejected Dramatic's arguments, ruling in favor of Atticus and awarding it attorney's fees. Dramatic appealed the judgment on the merits and both parties cross-appealed the award of attorney's fees.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court affirmed the district court's judgment granting declaratory relief to Atticus, holding that Dramatic's exclusive rights did not survive Lee's termination of the 1969 grant. The court found that the derivative works exception did not preserve Dramatic's exclusive license to stage non-first-class productions after the termination. The court also rejected Dramatic's arguments regarding the invalidity of the 2015 grant to Atticus and the timeliness of Atticus's claim.Regarding attorney's fees, the Second Circuit vacated the district court's award and remanded for further consideration. The court agreed that Dramatic's statute of limitations and res judicata arguments were objectively unreasonable but found that the district court erred in concluding that Dramatic had forfeited its statute of limitations defense and that its discovery requests unnecessarily prolonged the litigation. The court affirmed the district court's decision to deny fees incurred before April 27, 2023, and declined to award Atticus its fees on appeal. View "Atticus Ltd. Liab. Co. v. The Dramatic Publ'g Co." on Justia Law

Plaintiff Jana Romanova, a professional photographer, filed a lawsuit against Defendant Amilus Inc. for willful copyright infringement. Romanova alleged that Amilus published her photograph on its website without authorization. Despite being served, Amilus did not respond or appear in court. Romanova moved for a default judgment, but the district court ordered Amilus to show cause why the motion should not be granted. After receiving no response from Amilus, the court then ordered Romanova to show cause why the use of her photograph did not constitute fair use. The district court ultimately dismissed Romanova’s complaint with prejudice, concluding that Amilus’s use of the photograph was fair use.The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed Romanova’s claim, finding that the fair use defense was clearly established on the face of the complaint. The court reasoned that Amilus’s publication of the photograph communicated a different message than the original, which justified the fair use defense. Romanova appealed the decision, arguing that the court erred in its substantive finding of fair use and in raising the defense sua sponte for a non-appearing defendant.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case and reversed the district court’s judgment. The appellate court found that the district court misunderstood the fair use doctrine, particularly the requirement for a transformative purpose and justification for copying. The appellate court held that Amilus’s use of the photograph did not communicate a different message and lacked any valid justification for copying. Consequently, the appellate court remanded the case with instructions to enter a default judgment in favor of Romanova. View "Romanova v. Amilus Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, rightsholders of musical recordings affiliated with EMI, sued Vimeo, Inc. and Connected Ventures, LLC for copyright infringement, alleging that Vimeo users uploaded videos containing their copyrighted music without authorization. Vimeo claimed protection under the safe harbor provision of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which shields service providers from liability for user-uploaded infringing content under certain conditions.The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of Vimeo, finding that Vimeo was entitled to the DMCA safe harbor. The court concluded that Vimeo did not have actual or red flag knowledge of the infringing content and did not have the right and ability to control the infringing activity in a manner that would disqualify it from the safe harbor.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that Vimeo employees did not have red flag knowledge of the infringing content because it was not obvious to an ordinary person without specialized knowledge of music or copyright law that the videos were infringing. The court also found that Vimeo did not exercise substantial influence over user activities to the extent required to lose the safe harbor protection. The court noted that Vimeo's actions, such as promoting certain videos and banning specific types of content, did not amount to the level of control that would disqualify it from the safe harbor.The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment, holding that Vimeo was entitled to the DMCA safe harbor and dismissing Plaintiffs' claims of copyright infringement. View "Capitol Records v. Vimeo" on Justia Law

In 2014, Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge wrote the song "Thinking Out Loud," which became a global hit. Structured Asset Sales, LLC (SAS), which owns a portion of the royalties for Marvin Gaye's 1973 song "Let’s Get It On," alleged that Sheeran's song infringed on the copyright of Gaye's song. SAS claimed that the chord progression and syncopated harmonic rhythm in "Thinking Out Loud" were copied from "Let’s Get It On."The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York initially denied Sheeran's motion for summary judgment but later granted it upon reconsideration. The court concluded that the combination of the chord progression and harmonic rhythm in "Let’s Get It On" was too commonplace to warrant copyright protection. The court also excluded evidence and expert testimony related to musical elements not present in the sheet music deposited with the Copyright Office in 1973, which defined the scope of the copyright under the Copyright Act of 1909.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court's judgment. The appellate court agreed that the scope of the copyright was limited to the elements in the deposited sheet music and that the combination of the chord progression and harmonic rhythm was not original enough to be protectable. The court also found that no reasonable jury could find the two songs substantially similar as a whole, given their different melodies and lyrics. Thus, the court held that Sheeran did not infringe on the copyright of "Let’s Get It On" and affirmed the summary judgment in favor of Sheeran. View "Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Sheeran" on Justia Law

The case involves Internet Archive (IA), a nonprofit organization that creates digital copies of print books and makes them available online for free through its "Free Digital Library." IA maintains a one-to-one owned-to-loaned ratio, meaning it only allows as many digital checkouts as it has physical copies. In 2020, four major book publishers sued IA, alleging that its practices infringed their copyrights on 127 books. IA claimed its actions were protected under the fair use doctrine of the Copyright Act.The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment in favor of the publishers, rejecting IA's fair use defense. The court found that IA's use of the books was non-transformative, commercial in nature, and that it usurped the market for the publishers' eBooks, causing market harm.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case. The court held that IA's use of the books was not transformative because it did not add new expression, meaning, or message to the original works. Instead, it served the same purpose as the originals, making them available to read. The court also found that IA's use was commercial, as it solicited donations and had a partnership with Better World Books, which provided some financial benefit. The court concluded that IA's practices harmed the publishers' market for eBooks and print books, as IA's free digital copies served as a substitute for the originals.The Second Circuit affirmed the district court's decision, holding that IA's Free Digital Library did not qualify as fair use under the Copyright Act. The court emphasized that allowing such widespread copying and distribution without compensation would undermine the incentives for authors to create new works. View "Hachette Book Group, Inc. v. Internet Archive" on Justia Law

Michael Grecco Productions, Inc. (MGP) sued Ruthie Allyn Davis and associated entities for copyright infringement, alleging that Davis used Michael Grecco’s copyrighted photos without a license. The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed MGP’s complaint, reasoning that MGP, being a sophisticated plaintiff in detecting and litigating infringements, should have discovered the alleged infringement within three years of its occurrence. The district court concluded that MGP’s claims were time-barred by the Copyright Act’s three-year limitations provision.The district court’s decision was based on the premise that sophisticated plaintiffs cannot benefit from the discovery rule, which determines when a claim accrues. The court held that MGP’s sophistication in detecting infringements meant it should have discovered the alleged infringement within three years of its occurrence. Consequently, the court dismissed the complaint as time-barred, offering MGP the opportunity to amend the complaint to allege a separately occurring act of infringement within the limitations period, which MGP declined.The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reviewed the case and disagreed with the district court’s application of the discovery rule. The appellate court held that the discovery rule, not the injury rule, determines when a copyright infringement claim accrues, regardless of the plaintiff’s sophistication. The court emphasized that there is no “sophisticated plaintiff” exception to the discovery rule or to a defendant’s burden to plead and prove a statute-of-limitations defense. The appellate court found that it was not clear from the face of the complaint that MGP’s claims were time-barred and vacated the district court’s dismissal, remanding the case for further proceedings. View "Michael Grecco Prods., Inc. v. RADesign, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiff alleged that he co-created the song “All the Way Up,” but that he has not been properly credited or compensated for his contribution. He filed this action in the district court asserting claims under the Copyright Act, as well as various tort claims. Defendants maintain that Plaintiff assigned away any rights he may have had in the song, but the agreement has never been produced, and the parties disagree about its content and effect. The district court admitted a draft version of the missing agreement as a duplicate, and then granted Defendants’ motion for summary judgment without allowing Plaintiff to conduct discovery.   The Second Circuit vacated and remanded. The court held that the district court abused its discretion in finding the draft admissible as a duplicate original under Federal Rule of Evidence 1003, but properly admitted the draft as “other evidence of the content” of the original under Rule 1004. The court further held that the district court abused its discretion in denying Plaintiff’s request to conduct discovery prior to the entry of summary judgment and erred in concluding that no genuine dispute of material fact existed based on the current record. View "Elliott v. Cartagena, et al." on Justia Law

A collection of music publishers alleged infringement of their copyrights in 197 musical works when a series of live concert recordings was made available by Defendants for download and streaming on their websites. Plaintiffs sought damages and a permanent injunction pursuant to the Copyright Act. The district court held on summary judgment that Defendants had no valid licenses and therefore infringed each of the musical works and that the principal was personally liable. The district court denied Plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction.   Defendants appealed from the district court’s summary judgment order and the order granting fees and costs. Plaintiffs cross-appeal from the district court’s denial of a permanent injunction, several evidentiary rulings, and the denial of a new trial.   The Second Circuit affirmed the rulings in the summary judgment order to the extent they: (a) held that Defendants failed to obtain a license for any of the audiovisual recordings, and therefore infringed the audiovisual works; (b) concluded that Defendants had no valid affirmative defense, and (c) declined the Publishers’ request for a permanent injunction. The court vacated the ruling in the summary judgment order that Defendants infringed the musical works used in the audio-only recordings by failing to comply with Section 115’s substantive requirements. The court reversed the ruling on summary judgment that Defendant was liable for direct infringement. The court rejected the challenges to evidentiary rulings. The court affirmed the order denying the motion for a new trial. Finally, the court vacated the award of attorneys’ fees. View "ABKCO Music, Inc. v. Sagan" on Justia Law

Plaintiff appealed from the district court’s judgment granting Defendant Sirius XM Radio, Inc. (“Sirius XM”)’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims with prejudice for violations of his right of publicity under California common and statutory law because his claims were preempted by the Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. Section 301. The claims arise from Melendez’s performance under the moniker “Stuttering John” on The Howard Stern Show (the “HS Show”) from 1988 until 2004.   On appeal, Plaintiff asserted that Sirius XM’s use of excerpts of him from the archival episodes in its online and on-air advertisements promoting the HS Show violates his right of publicity under California common and statutory law because his name and likeness have been exploited for Sirius XM’s commercial gain without his permission.   The Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment. The court held that Plaintiff failed to plausibly allege any use of his name or likeness that is separate from, or beyond, the rebroadcasting, in whole or in part, of the copyrightable material from the HS Show’s archives and, thus, his right of publicity claims are preempted by the Copyright Act. Moreover, because Plaintiff has failed to articulate any allegations that he could add in a second amended complaint that overcome preemption in this case, the court concluded that the district court correctly determined that any leave to re-plead would be futile and properly dismissed his claims with prejudice. View "Melendez v. Sirius XM Radio, Inc." on Justia Law