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In a case originating from the Southern District (see our prior coverage here), the Supreme Court today ruled 6-3 that Aereo, a company that streams live broadcast television over the internet (with a slight delay) violates the Copyright Act’s “Transmit Clause,” which gives copyright owners the exclusive right to public performance of their work. From Justice Breyer’s majority opinion:
Continue Reading Supreme Court Rules Against Aereo Internet TV Service

In a motion Friday, the satellite radio company Siruis moved to dismiss a proposed class action (covered in this post) by members of the band The Turtles asserting New York common law copyright claims for songs recorded prior to the 1972 federal Copyright Act. The motion argues:
Continue Reading Sirius Moves to Dismiss Copyright Class Action Regarding Songs Predating 1972 Copyright Act

Judge Engelmayer issued an opinion yesterday resolving several motions in limine relating to an upcoming trial concerning the Beastie Boys’ suit accusing the makers of Monster Energy drinks of using Beastie Boys songs in promotional videos without authorization. Judge Engelmayer largely denied the Beastie Boys’ motion to exclude the testimony of Erich Joachimsthaler, a branding expert, who proposed to testify that the videos would not leave viewers with a lasting association between the Beastie Boys and Monster. He found that the testimony was “potentially relevant to the Beastie Boys’ actual damages” because “damages to the Beastie Boys would arguably be little, if any, if viewers would neither remember the Video nor retain from it an association between the Beastie Boys and Monster.” However, Judge Engelmayer was careful to limit the testimony to issues of damages, not liability:
Continue Reading In Beastie Boys Case, Judge Engelmayer Limits Lanham Act Damages to Cases of Willful Violations or Actual Confusion; Excludes Expert Testimony Failing “Laugh Test”

Today, Judge Chin granted summary judgment in favor of Google in an action brought by the Authors Guild and certain individual authors alleging that Google’s digitization of more than 20 million books owned by certain research and university libraries which are then provided to the contributing libraries in their entirety, and made available – in snippets – via Google Books, is violative of the Copyright Act.
Continue Reading Google Wins Summary Judgment in Authors’ Case Against Google Books

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Swain refused to enjoin Dish Network’s technology allowing viewers to record all prime time network shows (called “Prime Time Anytime” or “PTAT”) and then skip commercials with the touch of a button, instead of fast‑forwarding (called “Auto Hop”). Judge Swain ruled that the combination of these features did not constitute direct copyright infringement:
Continue Reading Judge Swain Refuses to Enjoin Dish Network Features Allowing Recording of All Prime Time Shows and Commercial Skipping