Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-05262/USCOURTS-cand-3_04-cv-05262-9/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 820
Nature of Suit: Copyright
Cause of Action: 17:501 Copyright Infringement

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States District C

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For the Northern District of California

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States District C

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For the Northern District of California

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

CHRISTOPHER R. HARRIS,

Plaintiff,

 v.

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS,

Defendant.

 /

No. C 04-05262 CRB

ORDER DENYING DEFENDANT’S

MOTION FOR SUMMARY

JUDGMENT AS TO FAIR USE

This copyright infringement action arises out of defendant’s use of plaintiff’s

copyrighted photograph in a book review without permission. Now pending before the Court

is defendant’s motion for summary judgment as to fair use only. After carefully considering

the parties’ moving papers, and with the benefit of oral argument, the Court hereby DENIES

the motion for summary judgment.

Defendant asserts that its use of plaintiff’s copyrighted photograph as part of a book

review article constitutes fair use because it was used “for purposes such as criticism,

comment, [or] news reporting.” See 17 U.S.C. § 107 (identifying four factors to be

considered in determining fair use). A determination of whether the fair use doctrine applies

is a mixed question of law and fact. See Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp., 336 F.3d 811, 817 (9th

Cir. 2003). Courts have recognized that a prototypical example of this doctrine is the use of

a quotation from a book in a book review. See, e.g., Supermarket of Homes, Inc. v. San

Fernando Valley Bd. of Realtors, 786 F.2d 1400, 1408 (9th Cir. 1986). 

Case 3:04-cv-05262-CRB Document 176 Filed 01/03/06 Page 1 of 2
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Defendant argues that use of the photo was the equivalent of a pictorial quotation

from the book and similarly falls under the fair use exception. Yet the photograph was

obviously marked as a copyrighted photograph in the book, both on the page the photograph

appeared and then again in the credits in the back of the book. In other words, the

photograph was a copyrighted work within a copyrighted work. Therefore, the Court does

not concur with defendant’s analogy. Photographs taken for aesthetic purposes, as plaintiff’s

photograph is reasonably inferred to be, are “creative in nature and thus fit squarely within

the core of copyright protection.” Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. v. Passport Video, 349 F.3d

622, 629 (9th Cir. 2003); cf. Nunez v. Caribbean Intern. News Corp., 235 F.3d 18 (1st. Cir.

2000) (holding that aesthetic photographs published in newspaper fell under the fair use

doctrine because the photographs themselves were the news story). As a result, the Court can

not say as a matter of law that use of a copyrighted photograph in a book review, in which

the book clearly states that the photograph is copyrighted, constitutes fair use. Accordingly,

defendant’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED.

The parties are ordered to appear for a case management conference on January 20,

2006 at 8:30 am. 

IT IS SO ORDERED.

Dated: January 3, 2006 

 

CHARLES R. BREYER

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Case 3:04-cv-05262-CRB Document 176 Filed 01/03/06 Page 2 of 2