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First Sale Doctrine Copyright Infringement Copyright

The First Sale Doctrine is rule of copyright law providing that an individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted material has the right to do what they wish with that particular copy, i.e. sell,... more +
The First Sale Doctrine is rule of copyright law providing that an individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted material has the right to do what they wish with that particular copy, i.e. sell, display or dispose of that copy. However, the First Sale Doctrine does not grant individual purchasers the right to make unauthorized reproductions of copyrighted material and consequently, the First Sale Doctrine cannot be used as a defense against claims of infringing reproductions.  less -
McDermott Will & Emery

Special Report - 2019 IP Law Year in Review - Copyrights

McDermott Will & Emery on

In many ways, copyright jurisprudence in 2019 was a study in contrasts. While certain cases represented a “back to basics” approach, answering fundamental questions such as “When can a copyright owner sue for copyright...more

Robins Kaplan LLP

ReDigi Wants a Re-Do at the High Court

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ReDigi, an online platform that allows users to buy and sell pre-owned digital content directly from other consumers, is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling finding that its services were not protected by the...more

Sunstein LLP

January 2019 IP Update - Digital Resale: Where New Technology Stumbles Over Old Law

Sunstein LLP on

A purchaser of an article of commerce expects to be able to freely sell it regardless of any intellectual property rights that it may embody. The resale of digital files, however, runs into a special barrier that ReDigi...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Second Circuit: No First Sale Doctrine for Reproduced Digital Files

McDermott Will & Emery on

Holding that reproduction of a digital file for purposes of resale does not fall under the “first sale” doctrine of the Copyright Act, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of...more

Proskauer - New Media & Technology

Fair Use in Flux: Second Circuit TVEyes Ruling May Have a Lasting Effect on Fair Use Analysis

Fair use can be one of the most difficult issues that copyright lawyers have to address due to decades of varying court rulings applying the multi-factor balancing test, particularly in the face of new technologies that use,...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

The Second Circuit Shuts Down Application of First Sale Doctrine

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In a decision issued on December 12, 2018, the Second Circuit refused to recognize application of the first sale doctrine to a service that had been established as a marketplace for resale of digital music files. Under the...more

Jones Day

Music to Copyright Owners' Ears: Second Circuit Affirms Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc.

Jones Day on

A federal appeals court finds that online music service ReDigi infringed Capitol Records' copyrights by allowing users to resell legally purchased iTunes files. Digital music files may not be lawfully resold, according to...more

Buchalter

The Supreme Court Clarifies Standard For Attorney Fee Awards In Copyright Cases

Buchalter on

Copyright infringement litigation has been on the rise in recent years, particularly in the Central District of California, with the apparel industry feeling the brunt of this uptick. In a typical case, a plaintiff alleges...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Social Media

The Kirtsaeng Opinion: Supreme Court Guidance on Attorneys’ Fees Awards in Copyright Cases

Recently, in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court provided substantial guidance in an unsettled area of law by holding that, when deciding whether to award attorneys’ fees under 17 U.S.C. §505, the...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

Supreme Court In Kirstaeng V Wiley: Objective Reasonableness Not Controlling For Attorney Fees

Ladas & Parry LLP on

The case of Kirstaeng v. Wiley hit the headlines in 2013 when the Supreme Court held that importation and sale in the United States of books bought from the copyright owner in Thailand was not an infringement of copyright,...more

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC

Supreme Court Injects Uncertainty Into Attorney’s Fee Awards in Copyright Cases

The day after it liberalized the standard for awarding enhanced damages in patent cases, a unanimous Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Kagan, substantially broadened lower courts’ discretion in granting...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

The Importance of Being Earnest and Objectively Reasonable

Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. continues to make controlling copyright law, visiting the U.S. Supreme Court for the second time on an issue of great importance to copyright owners and litigants. This time, the issued...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Making Your Mark

Objective Reasonableness Can Be Central to Fee-Shifting Analysis in Copyright Cases

In Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., the Supreme Court clarified the test for awarding attorney’s fees when applying the Copyright Act’s discretionary fee-shifting provision, 17 U.S.C. § 505. The Court held that the...more

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

The Double-Edged Sword: Supreme Court Holds “Objective Reasonableness” Important But Not Dispositive in Copyright Act Fee Awards

It is a common misperception that a party will automatically recover its attorneys’ fees if it prevails in an action for copyright infringement. First, certain statutory requirements must be met in order to qualify for the...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Hugh Jackman’s Conundrum: Can the Blockchain Revitalize the First Sale Doctrine Under Copyright Law?

Blockchain technology offers new possibilities for owners to sell digital copies of “pre-owned” content on secondary markets, as we’ve discussed in prior posts. But virtual flea markets – where an owner of a collection of...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

Ninth Circuit (Mostly) Skirts the Issue of Copyright Misuse in Most Recent Omega v. Costco Decision

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, as the saying goes. However, things are not always as they appear, and sometimes events unfold in ways you would not anticipate. Such is the case with the Ninth Circuit decision in the...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

How the Kirtsaeng Decision Could Ruin the U.S. Branded Drug Industry

The Constitution gives Congress the power to grant copyright and patent protection in the same part of Article I, specifically in Section 8, Clause 8...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

Copyright Antitrust Claims Against Textbook Publishers Dismissed in Longstanding Gray Market Copyright Case

It is no secret that college textbooks are expensive, and the average student has little recourse when a professor assigns specific books and editions. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, over the years students have...more

Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &...

Boston Copyright Round Table on Policy, Creativity and Innovation

The Department of Commerce is holding a round table at Harvard Law School on June 25, 2014 to discuss the Internet Policy Task Force’s Green Paper on Copyright Policy, Creativity and Innovation in the Digital Economy,...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP - Social Media

Federal Court Says No to “Used” Digital Music Marketplace

Digital music has come a long way since the era of widespread unauthorized sharing, with digital music sales estimated to be approaching $6 billion worldwide. As this market grows, a natural question is whether there can be a...more

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