Site People

Copyright Litigation

Fish represents clients in an array of copyright protection and related matters in state and federal courts, as well as in mediation and arbitration settings, whether those copyright issues form the heart of an infringement action, or arise as part of a larger dispute over publishing, breach of contract, First Amendment rights, or other intellectual property claims.

Our copyright attorneys are admitted to practice law in courts across the country and in the United States Supreme Court. We have the expertise to assist clients in preventing the infringement of their works, seeking damages from infringers through litigation or settlement, and defending against claims of infringement on the Internet and elsewhere.

We provide opinions and legal analyses on the following:

copyrightability of works

ownership of works

fair use

literal and nonliteral copying claims

secondary liability

safe harbors

anti-circumvention, damages, and injunctions

Gaylord v. United States of America
Fish represented Mr. Gaylord in a copyright infringement suit related to a 2002 first-class stamp issued by the United States Postal Service that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the armistice of the Korean War. The stamp featured a photo of the 19-soldier sculpture of the Korean War Memorial, created by Mr. Gaylord, from the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Federal Circuit, in its first significant holding on fair use, held in favor of Mr. Gaylord and remanded the case to the United States Court of Federal Claims for damages. After remand, in a second appeal on damages by Mr. Gaylord, the Federal Circuit again reversed the Court of Federal Claims, holding that it erred in determining that Mr. Gaylord could not seek “lost licensing fees” damages against the United States.

Reed Elsevier, Inc., et al v. Irvin Muchnick, et al
Fish represents two publishers in a class action copyright lawsuit by freelance writers against a group of database publishers. An $18 million dollar settlement was approved by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2005 after a lengthy fight over the rights to electronically published works. That settlement was reversed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals who ruled that the Copyright Act limited the jurisdiction of federal courts to actions for copyright infringement of registered works. The Supreme Court later reversed the ruling of the Second Circuit, holding that copyright registration was not required for the District Court to approve the class action settlement. The case was remanded back to the Second Circuit where it is currently pending.

McLaren v. Chico’s FAS, Inc.
Fish defended Chico’s in a copyright infringement litigation in the Southern District of New York brought by artist McLaren, who alleged infringement of mannequin drawings by three-dimensional mannequins displayed by Chico’s. Fish moved to dismiss the case in its entirety based on the invalidity of Plaintiff’s copyright registration—a prerequisite to filing suit for copyright infringement. Fish’s motion to dismiss the case was granted with prejudice on this issue of first impression in the Southern District of New York.

Airframe Systems, Inc. v. Raytheon Co., et al.
Fish won summary judgment for Defendant L-3 Communications Corporation in multiple copyright cases filed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. These highly technical cases involved software used to track aircraft maintenance and expert source code analysis. This was one of the largest copyright defense wins in the country in 2010, in light of the claimed damages of $132 million.

Spartan Home Entertainment, LLC v. Duffy Enterprises, Inc. et al.
Fish represented Hot Topic, Inc. in a copyright lawsuit involving the rights to distribute licensed merchandise and clothing relating to the motion picture entitled Boondock Saints. Fish brokered a favorable settlement and release agreement for Hot Topic which protected its right to continue to market the licensed goods.

Image Entertainment, Inc. v. Five Dollars a Day, LLC et al.
Fish represented Five Dollars a Day in a copyright declaratory judgment action to determine the rights to distribute the motion picture entitled Five Dollars a Day. The case involved the interpretation of a complex 36-agreement deal that was allegedly in conflict with a parallel deal entered into by the sales agent for the movie. Fish obtained a favorable settlement on behalf of the client.

Society of the Holy Transfiguration Monastery Inc. v. Archbishop Gregory of Denver, Colorado
Represented the The Holy Transfiguration Monastery (“HTM”), a Greek Orthodox monastery located in Brookline, MA in a copyright infringement suit involving infringement of the Monastery's copyrighted translations of ancient religious Greek texts. Presented oral argument in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit before a three judge panel including Judge Juan Torruella, Judge Michael Boudin, and retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Souter who was sitting by designation. The First Circuit affirmed the prior opinions of the District Court, concluding that the defendant was liable for copyright infringement and reaffirming, in a significant opinion, that translations are copyrightable works and that the art of translation is a creative process that involves artistic choices.

Copyright Litigation

News/Events

Events