Revisiting McGirt: New Legal Developments Challenge Oklahoma’s Landmark Ruling
Elliot McGucken v. Valnet, Inc., No. 24-1040 (U.S. filed Mar. 28, 2025) - Introduction - In the Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis wrote that “[w]hat you see… depends a good deal on where you are standing….,” but is the...more
After five years of litigation, the battle between Unicolors, a California-based fabric design company, and H&M is still going strong. Now the United States Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether an inaccuracy in...more
The Supreme Court of the United States granted the State of Georgia’s request to address whether it can claim copyright ownership over annotations made to its official legal code. State of Georgia, et al. v....more
It is long established that “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” but what if that ignorance is born out of restricted access to the law? If the full extent of the law can be revealed only by paying subscription fees, is it...more
On June 24, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether states can claim copyright protection in annotated codes. State of Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., No. 18-1150. ...more
The Supreme Court has spoken, and it’s official: Copyright infringement claims can only be brought after the copyright in question has been registered in the U.S. Copyright Office....more
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
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC has important implications for copyright owners who file infringement suits, including authors of literary, musical, and dramatic works. Key Points: ..The...more
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court rules that copyright owners must have a copyright registration before pursuing infringement claims in court. Resolving a circuit split and a question facing any copyright owner wishing to...more
In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, the Supreme Court resolved a longstanding circuit split by unanimously holding a copyright owner of a United States work may not file an infringement lawsuit until...more
On March 4th, the Supreme Court held that a potential copyright plaintiff must wait until the Copyright Office “has registered a copyright after examining a properly filed application” before suing for copyright infringement....more
On March 4, the US Supreme Court resolved a circuit split and held that, with limited statutory exceptions, the issuance of a registration from the Copyright Office is a prerequisite to filing a claim for infringement. See...more
On a busy Monday for copyright law that saw everything from the return of RBG to discursions about hot dogs at sporting events, the Supreme Court issued two unanimous opinions concerning requirements for filing copyright...more
On March 4, 2019, in a unanimous decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, the US Supreme Court resolved a longstanding circuit split on whether a copyright claimant must have registered with US...more
The U.S. Supreme Court held today that bringing a suit for copyright infringement requires that the infringed work actually be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, and that a mere application for registration will not...more
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held that parties seeking to institute copyright infringement litigation must do more than merely apply to register their work with the Copyright Office prior to filing suit. In Fourth...more
On Monday, March 4, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that a copyright claimant may only bring a suit for copyright infringement after the copyright has been registered by the Copyright Office, not while the registration...more
This Monday, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. ____ (Mar. 4, 2019), that a copyright owner may commence an infringement suit only when the Copyright...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, 586 U.S. __ (2019), issued March 4, 2019, resolves a longstanding circuit split regarding whether the Copyright Act of 1976...more
The wheels of government turn slowly to the detriment of copyright owners, according to a unanimous opinion delivered by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v....more
Copyright owners cannot file infringement lawsuits until after the subject work has been granted registration by the U.S. Copyright Office. This unanimous decision from the Supreme Court today in Fourth Estate Pub. Benefit...more
The Supreme Court was busy yesterday issuing opinions involving copyright law (see the TMCA’s post yesterday on Fourth Estate vs. Wallstreet.com concerning the need to obtain a copyright registration before initiating an...more
Before today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, there were two views on whether a copyright had to be registered, as opposed to an application for...more
This morning, the Supreme Court resolved a longstanding circuit split about whether a copyright infringement plaintiff must first obtain a registration from the Copyright Office for the work upon which its claim is based...more
On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two unanimous decisions interpreting the Copyright Act. In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC, 586 U.S. ___, the Court resolved a circuit split over when...more