The Sixth Circuit Court let stand a previous ruling that cheerleader outfits are eligible for copyright protection. The case was brought by Varsity Brands back in 2010 when it claimed that its competitor, Star Athletica, had copied several of its cheerleader uniform designs. Push ‘em back, push ‘em back, waaaay back!
A jury of 12 good persons and true granted Ultratec $5.4 million in damages for infringement of its closed-caption telephone patent. What is interesting is how the jury came up with $5.4 million. In its decision, the jury rejected a one-time lump sum payment to the plaintiff and decided on a per-minute royalty fee of three cents a minute. Royalties can be based on dollar sales, unit sales, or any other measure of volume of sales for the infringing product or service. So, the jury found, for the 181,449,487 infringing minutes, Sorenson Communications, Inc. et al owes Ultratec Inc.
Shawn Carter (aka Jay Z) is a free man after a California federal judge dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against him for allegedly lifting music from a 1957 ballad, “Khosara,” by Egyptian artist Baligh Hamy for his song “Big Pimpin’”. The case was brought by Mr. Hamdy’s nephew, Osama Ahmed Fahmy. The judge dismissed the case against Jay Z and his producer, Timbaland, ruling that Mr. Fahmy did not have legal standing to bring the case to trial in the first place!
We have an idea for Jay Z’s next hit: “No Standin’”
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court just ruled that Universal Music should have first considered if the use of its copyrighted music was “fair use” before sending a takedown letter to Stephanie Lenz whose video of her baby dancing to “Let’s Go Crazy” by the artist formerly known as Prince went viral. Eight years ago, Ms. Lenz posted her video to YouTube, and Universal Music demanded that she “take down” the video since the music to which her baby was dancing infringed the music publisher’s copyright.