On May 19, two California photographers filed a class action suit alleging that Instagram is liable for inducement of copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, and vicarious copyright infringement due to the platform’s implementation and promotion of its “embed” function. The complaint begins: “This case is about Instagram’s scheme to generate substantial revenue for its parent, Facebook, Inc., by encouraging, inducing, ...
As a member of the Authors Guild, I occasionally peek at the discussion board, and any topics pertaining to copyright naturally get my attention. It appears that a common question among authors of both fiction and nonfiction is whether they may quote song lyrics in their books. Further, it seems that a typical experience for many writers is that they ...
In my long, admittedly meandering post of April 18, I asserted that although a traditional understanding of fair use often concerns itself with purpose as perceived through message, the Second Circuit in AWF v. Goldsmith was right to adopt a “message-blind” approach in its opinion reversing the lower court’s finding. I say this despite my personal view that the Warhol ...
Shortly after the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Warhol v. Goldsmith, I wandered deep into the tall grass, PJs tucked into my boots, thinking about the fair use analysis in the difficult context of fine art. And then the Supreme Court delivered Justice Breyer’s opinion in Google v. Oracle, which, among other transgressions, broke a cardinal rule by ...
Once the die was cast (i.e. after oral arguments) in Google v. Oracle, I don’t think I was alone in feeling that if the Supreme Court held that the computer code at issue in this case was not properly a subject of copyright protection, that would be an acceptably narrow decision, even though many might disagree with it as a ...
