ANSWER: YES, FAIR USE! Sigh. Read the opinion here. To see the problem again, you can find it here. You can find the offending brochure here. The court’s analysis isn’t easy to follow, but here it is, along with my comments: Factor 1: Purpose and Character of the Use:...
Led Zeppelin Probably Would’ve Won Anyway, But Some Mistakes Can’t Be Wished Away Last time, I explained why I thought the Ninth Circuit’s recent reversal1The verdict was actually “vacated”—thrown out—and “remanded”—sent back down for a new trial....
I Know They Look the Same, But the “Stairway to Heaven” Court Gets Something Very Important Right We interrupt the regularly-scheduled blog post about copyright in public murals in Nashville with this counter-intuitive defense of the Ninth Circuit’s recent surprising...
We Don’t Need a Written Contract Because We’re Such Good Friends. Here’s a link to the decision I’m discussing. Plaintiff, xTomic, is a software developer—and a fairly small one, as is usually the case. Defendants teach others how to carry out certain...
Is it fair use? Answer: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (but I’ll accept “yes”) If you got here without reading the problem, you can find the problem here. The court’s opinion may be found here. It was kind of a trick question, but I’ll give you credit if you said “yes.” The issue of...
