Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, University of Georgia Law School February 4, 2015 In an IP Viewpoints post in October 2014, I criticized the Seventh Circuit’s decisions in Kienitz v. Sconnie Nation LLC.1 The case was a copyright infringement suit brought by professional photographer Michael Kienitz against Sconnie Nation LLC, which copied Kienitz’s copyrighted photo of [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law November 26, 2014 I write this IP Viewpoints piece on the eve of Thanksgiving. One of our family rituals during the holidays is to sit down together and watch our favorite holiday films. One of our favorites – and we are not alone – is the [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law October 6, 2014 I have previously written in IP Viewpoints about “appropriation art” in the context of the Cariou v. Prince1litigation, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that artist Richard Prince’s “appropriation” of the copyrighted photographs of Patrick Cariou were [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law July 29, 2014 The Supreme Court in Petrella v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.1 interpreted the ancient equitable doctrine of “laches” as applied to a copyright holder’s delay in enforcing remedies under the Copyright Act. The laches doctrine operates to bar claims that might otherwise be brought when the [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law June 25, 2014 This IP Viewpoints article is filed as breaking news. Only minutes ago the Supreme Court announced its much-anticipated ruling in ABC, Inc., v. Aereo, Inc., a copyright case that, as I have previously posted in these Viewpoints pages, places in play the American [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law April 24, 2014 In September 2012, I reported on a fascinating copyright infringement lawsuit arising from undercover, surreptitious, and deceitful newsgathering by the Bloomberg financial service, which had violated the rules of engagement in an earnings call by the Swatch Group, and sold the intelligence it [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law February 4, 2014 On Jan. 10, 2014, the Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari filed by broadcasters in ABC, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc., in a case that puts in play the American television broadcast industry as we know it. The petitioners in the case are [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla, Duke University School of Law November 26, 2013 “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Those words are from William Faulkner, in his part-play part-novel Requiem for a Nun. They are spoken by the character Gavin Stevens, county attorney for Faulkner’s fictional Yoknapatawpha County. The words are among Faulkner’s [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla Duke University School of Law October 29, 2013 In a prior IP Viewpoints piece, I wrote about a colorful copyright infringement case brought by a professional photographer, Patrick Cariou, against the well-known and highly successful “appropriation artist” Richard Prince, a case in which the photographer Cariou prevailed against the artist Prince [...]
Prof. Rodney A. Smolla August 26, 2013 In Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc.,1 a former Rutgers University football quarterback, Ryan Hart, brought suit against Electronic Arts, Inc., popularly known as EA Sports, for violating his right of publicity under New Jersey law. In analyzing Ryan’s common-law right of publicity claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals [...]