Rick was quoted today in Managing IP’s article Led Zeppelin Ruling Should Ease Burden on Copyright Defendants about the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision in Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin. It’s paywalled (sorry), but a free trial is available. Among other things, the Ninth Circuit drew a clear distinction between probative similarity (that tends to prove a connection between the accused infringer and the copyrighted work) and substantial similarity (which goes to whether too much protectable material was taken from the copyrighted work). The Ninth Circuit also ditched the “inverse-ratio” rule as too confusing. You can also read Rick’s recent blog post about the case, which Rick describes as the happiest possible ending to the case.
