Abraham Lincoln told a story about a lawyer who tried to establish that a calf had five legs by calling its tail a leg. But the calf had only four legs, Lincoln observed, because calling a tail a leg does not make it so.1 Before us is a case about a lawyer who tried to establish that a company owned a

4 RIGHTHAVEN LLC V. HOEHN

copyright by drafting a contract calling the company the ... More...   $0 (05-13-2013 - NV)

5 In 2000, Patrick Cariou published Yes Rasta, a book of classical portraits and landscape
6 photographs that he took over the course of six years spent living among Rastafarians in Jamaica.
7 Richard Prince altered and incorporated several of Cariou’s Yes Rasta photographs into a series
8 of paintings and collages, called Canal Zone, that he exhibited in 2007 and 2008, first at the<... More...   $0 (04-25-2013 - )

The United States of America charged Paul R. Gunter, age 64, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, frauds and swindles, fraud by wire, radio or television, attempted and conspiracy to commit mail raud, fraud by wire, radio or television, money laundering, postal, interstate wire, radio, etc., in interstate commerce in violation 18 U.S.C. 1341.F, 18 U.S.C. 1343.F, 18 U.S.C. 1348.F, 18 U.S.C... More...   $0 (04-19-2013 - FL)

No one would deny that Donald Trump, the real estate magnate, television personality, author, and erstwhile presidential candidate, cuts a celebrated, if controversial, public figure. We must decide whether Trump University, LLC, a private, for-profit entity purporting to teach Trump’s “insider success secrets,â€� is itself a public or limited public figure so as to implicate the First Amendme... More...   $0 (04-18-2013 - CA)

Anthony Spinner brings this “idea submissionâ€� lawsuit against American Broadcasting Company, Inc. (ABC) for ABC‟s alleged use of his ideas in creating and developing the hit television series LOST. Spinner submitted a script entitled “L.O.S.T.â€� to ABC in 1977, while ABC‟s LOST was created and developed in 2003 and 2004. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of ABC. We affir... More...   $0 (04-05-2013 - CA)

Lisa Williamson was arrested along with her husband Lance on a charge that they had stolen someone else’s horse. After being acquitted on the charge, Williamson filed suit against two Lake County, Illinois sheriff’s deputies pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that they arrested her without probable cause in violation of the Fourth Amendment and de2

No. 09-3985

prived her of ... More...   $0 (04-04-2013 - IL)

2 Aereo, Inc. (“Aereo�) enables its subscribers to watch broadcast television programs over
3 the internet for a monthly fee. Two groups of plaintiffs, holders of copyrights in programs broadcast
4 on network television, filed copyright infringement actions against Aereo in the United States
5 District Court for the Southern District of New York. They moved for a preliminary injunc... More...   $0 (04-02-2013 - NY)

Klein-Becker USA and Klein-Becker IP Holdings (collectively “Klein-Becker�)
sued Patrick Englert and Mr. Finest, Inc., for trademark infringement, copyright
infringement, false advertising, and unfair competition under the Lanham Act; false
advertising under the Utah Truth in Advertising Act; unfair competition under the Utah
Unfair Practices Act; fraud; civil conspiracy; and i... More...   $0 (03-27-2013 - UT)

Robert Sher sued Brisam Tulsa, LLC, Hilton Tulsa Southern Hills, Hilton Worldwide, Inc., Hilton, Inc., HLT Existing Franchise Holding, LLC, Zurich American Insurance Company, MCSAM Hotel Group, LLC, Parkard Companies, Packard Hospitality Group, LLC and Joshua Evans on negligence theories claiming;

1. That Plaintiff, Robert Sher, hereinafter referred to as “Plaintiff’, was a resident o... More...   $0 (03-21-2013 - OK)

The “exclusive rightsâ€� that a copyright owner has “to distribute copies. . . of [a] copyrighted work,â€� 17 U. S. C. §106(3), are qualified by the application of several limitations set out in §§107 through 122, including the “first saleâ€� doctrine, which provides that “the owner of a particular copy or phono record lawfully made under this title . . . isentitled, without the authori... More...   $0 (03-19-2013 - NY)

This is a copyright infringement suit over a seven-second clip of Ed Sullivan’s introduction of the Four Seasons on The Ed Sullivan Show. Appellees Dodger Productions, Inc. and Dodger Theatricals, Ltd. (collectively “Dodger�) used the clip in their musical about the Four Seasons, Jersey Boys, to mark a historical point in the band’s career.

Appellant SOFA Entertainment, Inc. (“SOF... More...   $0 (03-11-2013 - CA)

Navico, Inc. sued Garmin International, Inc., Aaron Coleman, Jason Detring, Jeffrey Hanoch, John Matson, Kevin Brown and Lance Lybarger claiming:

1. Navico is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in Tulsa County.

2. Defendant Garmin International, Inc. (“Garmin�) is a Kansas corporation with its principal place of business in Olathe, Kansas.

3.... More...   $1 (02-15-2013 - OK)

The last time Mattel and MGA were here, we predicted that “the entire case will probably need to be retried.� Mattel, Inc. v. MGA Entm’t, Inc., 616 F.3d 904, 918 (9th Cir. 2010). On remand, the district court agreed and ordered a new trial.

The jury rejected Mattel’s claim that MGA infringed Mattel’s copyrights by producing Bratz dolls. While Mattel doesn’t challenge that result... More...   $0 (01-24-2013 - CA)

This defamation case concerns Mind, Body and Soul, a book written by Scott Weier. In the author’s words, the book is “based on my life.â€� It discusses Scott’s personal transformation, largely through his relationship with God, following his divorce “on bad termsâ€� from his first wife. Scott’s ex-wife and her father concluded the book falsely accused them of lying, abuse, and suffering ... More...   $0 (01-18-2013 - IA)

Defendant-appellant Building #19, Inc. appeals from the entry of a preliminary injunction restricting its use of the word "Swarovski" in newspaper advertising to a certain font size. The case is ongoing in the district court, with requests for permanent injunctive relief pending. The dispute began when Building #19 obtained a number of Swarovski crystal figurines that it hoped to resell, and in o... More...   $0 (01-10-2013 - RI)

On a sunny April day in 2007, freelancer Donald Harney snapped a photograph ("the Photo") of a blond girl in a pink coat riding piggyback on her father's shoulders as they emerged from a Palm Sunday service in the Beacon Hill section of Boston. Just over a year later, the pair in the Photo became a national media sensation. The father, soon-to-be revealed as a German citizen who had assumed the n... More...   $0 (01-07-2013 - MA)

Title 17 United States Code section 204(a) (section 204) of the Copyright Act provides: “A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or such owner‟s duly authorized agent.â€� We affirm the entry of summary judgment against... More...   $0 (11-07-2012 - CA)

Steven Gerhardson, Ron Hanek, Mike Johnson, and Jim Costello (collectively, drivers) were unionized delivery drivers covered by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The CBA established a pension plan operated by a third-party pension management firm. A dispute arose in 2006 after the drivers’ employer and union renegotiated the CBA. The drivers sued their employer, the union, and the pension... More...   $0 (11-06-2012 - MN)

After defendant Global Asylum, Inc. released its film “Haunting of Winchester House,â€� plaintiff Winchester Mystery House, LLC filed an action alleging unauthorized use of its trademarks (15 U.S.C. § 1114), unfair competition (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)), and interference with contract and economic advantage. Defendant brought a motion for summary judgment, which the trial court granted. On appeal, ... More...   $0 (10-24-2012 - CA)

The Lee's Summit R-7 School District ("the School District") issued 180-day suspensions to twin brothers Steven and Sean Wilson (together, "the Wilsons") on January 11, 2012 for disruption caused by a website the Wilsons created. The Wilsons filed suit against the School District on March 6, 2012, alleging, along with other claims, that the School District violated their rights to free speech. The... More...   $0 (10-17-2012 - MO)

Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC (PRA) appeals the September 14, 2011 district court order granting Jesse Meyer’s motion for a preliminary injunction and provisional class certification. Meyer’s complaint alleged that PRA’s debt collection efforts violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227. The district court’s preliminary injunction restrained PRA from using... More...   $0 (10-12-2012 - CA)

Defendants, Rysher Entertainment, LLC, 2929 Entertainment, LP, and Qualia Capital, LLC, appeal from a judgment entered in favor of plaintiff, Don Johnson Productions, Inc. On December 7, 1994, plaintiff and Rysher Entertainment, LLC entered into a contract for the services of an actor, Don Johnson. Entitled the ―Term Agreement‖ (the contract), it provided for production of the ―Nash Bridgesâ... More...   $0 (10-01-2012 - CA)

Alvertis Isbell, aka Al Bell, sued DM Records on a copyright infringement theory claiming that Defendant wrongfully used the song "Whoomp! (There it is) and "Dazzey Duks" on the airways and at sporting arenas nearly two decades ago.

Defendant claimed that it bought the rights to the tunes at a bankruptcy sale in 1999.

Judge Schell ruled as a matter of law that DM Records did not ow... More...   $2135000 (09-15-2012 - TX)

This appeal arises from a dispute between several recording companies and Jammie Thomas-Rasset. There is a complicated procedural history involving three jury trials, but for purposes of appeal, it is undisputed that Thomas-Rasset willfully infringed copyrights of twenty-four sound recordings by engaging in file-sharing on the Internet. After a first jury found Thomas-Rasset liable and awarded dam... More...   $0 (09-11-2012 - MN)

The question presented is whether a single color may serve as a legally protected trademark in the fashion industry and, in particular, as the mark for a particular style of high fashion women’s footwear. Christian Louboutin, a designer of high-fashion women’s footwear and accessories, has since 1992 painted the “outsolesâ€� of his women’s high-heeled shoes with a high-gloss red lacquer. I... More...   $0 (09-05-2012 - NY)