list of copyright case law
united states
Table:
Case name

Reporter

Court/Year

Findings

Wheaton v. Peters

33 U.S. (8 Pet.) 591
1834

There is no such thing as common law copyright and one must observe the formalities to secure a copyright.

Baker v. Selden

101 U.S. 99
1879

Idea-expression divide.

Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony

111 U.S. 53
1884

Extended copyright protection to photography.

White-Smith Music Publishing Company v. Apollo Company

209 U.S. 1
1908

Reproduction of the sounds of musical instruments playing music for which copyright granted not a violation of the copyright.

Bobbs-Merrill Co v. Straus

210 U.S. 339
1908

No license to use copyrighted material. License cannot extend holder's rights beyond statute defined by Congress.

Bauer & Cie. v. O'Donnell

229 U.S. 1
1913

Differences between patent and copyright defined also prohibits a license from extending holder's rights beyond statute.

Macmillan Co. v. King

223 F. 862
D.Mass. 1914

Limits of fair use with respect to an educational context and to summaries.

Nutt v. National Institute Inc.

31 F.2d 236
2d Cir. 1929

It is not the subject that is protected by copyright. It is the treatment of a subject that is protected.

Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp.

45 F.2d 119
2d Cir. 1930

No copyright for "stock characters".

Cain v. Universal Pictures

47 F.Supp. 1013
S. Dist. Calif 1942

Scènes à faire

Shostakovich v. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.

196 Misc. 67, 80 N.Y.S.2d 575 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1948), aff'd 275 A.D. 692, 87 N.Y.S.2d 430 (1949)
1948–9

No moral rights in public domain works.

Alfred Bell & Co. v. Catalda Fine Arts, Inc.

191 F.2d 99
2d. Cir. 1951

Variations of works in the public domain can be copyrighted if the new "author" contributed something more than a "merely trivial" variation, but no large measure of novelty is necessary.

National Comics Publications v. Fawcett Publications

191 F.2d 594 (1951), clarified 198 F.2d 927 (1952)
2d Cir. 1951–2

Derivative works; an author does not forfeit his copyright to a piece of intellectual property if his work is contracted to another who fails to properly copyright works which incorporate the original property (obsoleted by Copyright Act of 1976).

F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Contemporary Arts, Inc.

344 U.S. 227
1952

Provided wide latitude to judges when determining legal remedies based on the facts of the case.

Mazer v. Stein

347 U.S. 201
1954

Extended copyright protection to applied art.

Irving Berlin et al. v. E.C. Publications, Inc.

329 F. 2d 541
2d. Cir. 1964

Parody.

Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists

392 U.S. 390
1968

Television broadcasters "perform" copyrighted works. Viewers do not perform. CATV was more like a viewer than a broadcaster and did not infringe when rebroadcasting copyrighted works.

Roth Greeting Cards v. United Card Co

429 F.2d 1106
9th Cir. 1970

Copyright may be infringed when total concept and feel is the same

Williams & Wilkins Co. v. United States

487 F.2d 1345
Ct. Cl. 1973

Libraries' photocopying for research was fair use.

Twentieth Century Music Corp. v. Aiken

422 U.S. 151
1975

Playing a radio broadcast of a copyrighted work at a business was not copyright infringement Radio reception does not constitute a "performance" of copyrighted material.

Reyher v. Children's Television Workshop

533 F.2d 87
2d Cir. 1976

The essence of infringement lies in taking not a general theme but its particular expression

Gilliam v. American Broadcasting

538 F.2d 14
2d Cir. 1976

Moral rights infringed by unauthorized editing of TV show

Sid & Marty Krofft Television Productions Inc. v. McDonald's Corp.

562 F.2d 1157
9th Cir. 1977

Extrinsic and intrinsic tests may be used to determine substantial similarity

Wainwright Securities v. Wall Street Transcript Corp

558 F.2d 91
2d Cir. 1977

The essence or purpose of legitimate journalism is the reporting of objective facts or developments, not the appropriation of the form of expression used by the news source

Miller v. Universal City Studios, Inc.

650 F.2d 1365
5th Cir. 1981

A writer's research is not copyrightable.

Schnapper v. Foley

667 F.2d 102
D.C. Cir. 1981

Affirmed that copyright exists for works created by contractors for the US government.

Stern Electronics, Inc. v. Kaufman

669 F.2d 852
2d Cir. 1982

Copyright on computer programs includes images and sounds as well as the computer code.

See v. Durang

711 F.2d 141
9th Cir. 1983

Copying deleted or so disguised as to be unrecognizable is not copying

Apple Computer, Inc. v. Franklin Computer Corp.

714 F.2d 1240
3rd Cir. 1983

Computer software is protected by copyright (affirmed and obsoleted by subsequent legislation).

Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (the "Betamax case")

464 U.S. 417
1984

Products with substantial non-infringing uses (video recorders) may be sold even if they can be used illicitly.

Selle v. Gibb

741 F.2nd 896
7th Circ 1984

Where there is lack of evidence of access, access can be inferred only if striking similarities preclude independent creation

Dowling v. United States

473 U.S. 207
1985

Copyright infringement is not theft, conversion, or fraud; illegally-made copies are not stolen goods.

Harper & Row v. Nation Enterprises

471 U.S. 539
1985

The interest served by republication of a public figure's account of an event is not sufficient to permit nontransformative fair use.

Fisher v. Dees

794 F.2d 432
9th Cir. 1986

Parody of song performance is legitimate fair use

Whelan v. Jaslow

797 F.2d 1222
3rd Cir. 1986

Copyright protection of computer programs may extend beyond the programs' literal code to their structure, sequence and organization

Broderbund v. Unison

648 F. Supp. 1127, 1133
N.D. Cal. 1986

Copyright may extend to the look and feel of a computer program's display

Steinberg v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc.

663 F. Supp. 706
S.D.N.Y. 1987

Derivative works.

Salinger v. Random House

811 F.2d 90
2d Cir. 1987

An author has a right to protect the expressive content of his unpublished writings for the term of his copyright, and that right prevails over a claim of fair use under "ordinary circumstances"

Anderson v. Stallone

11 USPQ2D 1161
C.D. Cal 1989

Derivative works.

Community for Creative Non-Violence v. Reid

490 U.S. 730
1989

Works for hire.

Wright v. Warner Books

953 F.2d 731
2d Cir. 1991

Sparing use of creative expression from unpublished letters and journals may constitute fair use

Basic Books, Inc. v. Kinko's Graphics Corporation

758 F. Supp. 1522
S.D.N.Y. 1991

Articles copied for educational use are not necessarily fair use.

Advent Sys. Ltd. v. Unisys Corp

925 F.2d 670, 675-76
3d Cir. 1991

The sale of software is the sale of a good within the meaning of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Downriver Internists v. Harris Corp

929 F.2d 1147, 1150
6th Cir. 1991

The sale of software is the sale of a good within the meaning of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service

499 U.S. 340
1991

Affirmed the need for a minimal amount of creativity before a work is copyrightable. "Sweat of the brow" alone is not sufficient to bestow copyright.

Grand Upright Music, Ltd. v. Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

780 F. Supp. 182
SDNY 1991

Music sampling is generally copyright infringement.

Step-Saver Data Systems, Inc. v. Wyse Technology

939 F.2d 91
3rd Cir. 1991

The need to characterize the transaction as a license to use software is "largely anachronistic.".

Computer Associates Int. Inc. v. Altai Inc.

982 F.2d 693
2d Cir. 1992

"Substantial similarity" is required for copyright infringement to occur. Established the Abstraction-Filtration-Comparison test, which lays out the steps to follow when extricating copyrightable expression from uncopyrightable elements of the same work.

Lewis Galoob Toys, Inc. v. Nintendo of America, Inc.

780 F. Supp. 1283
9th Cir. 1992

Consumers may modify purchased computer games for their own use.

Rogers v. Koons

960 F.2d 301
2d Cir. 1992

Fair use and parody.

MAI Systems Corp. v. Peak Computer, Inc.

991 F.2d 511
9th Cir. 1993

RAM ("working memory") copies of computer programs are governed by copyright.

Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.

35 F.3d 1435
9th Cir. 1994

Certain components of computer programs' graphical user interfaces are not copyrightable.

Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc.

510 U.S. 569
1994

Commercial parody can be fair use.

Carter v. Helmsley-Spear Inc.

861 F. Supp. 303
S.D.N.Y., 1994

Interpreting moral rights provisions of U.S. Visual Artists Rights Act (overturned for other reasons: 71 F.3d 77 (2d Cir. 1995), cert. denied 116 S. Ct. 1824 (1996)).

United States v. LaMacchia

871 F.Supp. 535
D. Mass 1994

Gave rise to LaMacchia Loophole where criminal charges of fraud or copyright infringement would be dismissed, so long as there was no profit motive involved. The NET Act was passed in 1997 as a direct response to LaMacchia.

Lotus v. Borland

49 F.3d 807
1st Cir. 1995

Software interfaces per se are "methods of operation" and are not covered by copyright.

Self-Realization Fellowship Church v. Ananda Church

59 F.3d 902, 910
9th Cir. 1995

Renewal rights are not assignable.

Religious Technology Center v. Netcom

907 F. Supp. 1361
N.D. Cal. 1995

Immunity of copyright liability for Internet Intermediaries.

Applied Info. Mgmt., Inc, v. Icart

976 Supp. 149, 155
E.D.N.Y. 1997

The sale of software is the sale of a good. Case was dropped.

Itar-Tass Russian News Agency v. Russian Kurier, Inc.

153 F.3d 82
2d Cir. 1998

Jurisdiction with closest association to putative owner applies to determine copyright ownership.

The Yankee Candle Co. v. New England Candle Co.

14 F.Supp.2d 154
District Court of Massachusetts 1998

Internal structure does not qualify as "building" under 17 U.S.C. § 101.

Bridgeman Art Library Ltd. v. Corel Corporation

36 F. Supp. 2d 191
S.D.N.Y. 1999

"Slavish copying" is inherently uncreative and cannot confer copyright.

Estate of Martin Luther King, Jr., Inc. v. CBS, Inc.

194 F.3d 1211
11th Cir. 1999

Giving a public speech is not public-domain publication under the 1909 Copyright Act.

Novell, Inc. v. CPU Distrib., Inc.

2000 US Dist. Lexis. 9975
SD Tex. 2000

The first-sale doctrine applies to software.

UMG v. MP3.com

2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5761
S.D.N.Y. 2000

Distribution of copyrighted music without permission of the copyright holders is infringement even if the downloader already owns a copy of the music.

A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.

239 F.3d 1004
9th Cir. 2001

Knowingly failing to take steps to prevent infringement, while benefiting from said infringement, is grounds for contributory infringement. Also, users of file-sharing services infringe by both uploading and downloading works without permission.

New York Times Company v. Tasini

533 U.S. 483
2001

Freelance journalists did not grant electronic republication rights for collective work.

SoftMan Products Co. v. Adobe Systems Inc.

CV 00-04161 DDP (AJWx)
C.D.C.A. 2001

The first-sale doctrine applies to software.

Suntrust v. Houghton Mifflin

252 F. 3d 1165
11th Cir. 2001

Parody and fair use.

Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes

273 F.3d 429
2d Cir. 2001

Affirmed the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Veeck v. Southern Bldg. Code Cong. Int'l

241 F.3d 398, 416
5th Cir. 2001

A private organization cannot assert copyright protection for its model codes, after the models have been adopted by a legislative body and become the law.

Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation

336 F.3d 811
9th Cir. 2003

Thumbnails and inline linking can be fair use.

Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

539 U.S. 23
2003

Trademark cannot preserve rights to a public domain work.

Eldred v. Ashcroft

537 U.S. 186
2003

Congress may retroactively extend the duration of works still under copyright, as long as the extension is limited.

CoStar v. LoopNet

373 F.3d 544
4th Cir. 2004

Internet service provider was found not liable for copyright infringement of photographs uploaded by subscribers, despite the screening process by an employee of the Internet service provider before the photographs were stored and displayed.

Arizona Cartridge Remanufacturers Association Inc. v. Lexmark International Inc.

03-16987 D.C. No. CV-01-04626SBA/JL OPINION
9th Cir. 2005

End User License Agreements on a physical box can be binding on consumers who signal their acceptance of the license agreement by opening the box.

Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films

410 F.3d 792
6th Cir. 2005

No de minimis exception for sampled music. "Get a license or do not sample. We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way."

Golan v. Gonzales

No. 01-B-1854, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6800
D.Co. 2005

Congress may not retroactively restore copyright in works that have fallen into the public domain (a contrary principle in patent case law being held inapplicable to copyright).

MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.

545 U.S. 913
2005

Distributors of peer-to-peer file-sharing software can be liable for copyright infringement if there are "affirmative steps taken to foster infringement".

Perfect 10 v. Google Inc

416 F. Supp. 2d 828
C.D. Cal. 2006

Thumbnails in Web searches were fair use. Framed inline images of full size were not infringing copies. (9th circuit reversed the DC's holding of no Fair Use)

Perfect 10 v. CCBill LLC

488 F.3d 1102
9th Cir. 2007

DMCA notification procedures place the burden of policing copyright infringement on the owners of the copyright. CDA Section 230 means only “federal intellectual property," and does not include state right of publicity claims.

Perfect 10 v. Visa

494 F.3d 788
9th Cir. 2007

A case about secondary copyright infringement

Kahle v. Gonzales

No. 04-17434
9th Cir. 2007

Congress did not alter the "traditional contours of copyright protection" by permitting automatic extension of copyrights.

Lenz v. Universal Music Corp.

572 F. Supp. 2d 1150
N.D. Cal. 2008

Rights holders must consider fair use before issuing a takedown notice. If the notice is issued in bad faith, the rights holder could be held liable for misrepresentation.

MDY Industries v. Blizzard Entertainment

629 F. 3d 928
9th Cir. 2010

Addressing whether certain unlicensed acts are copyright infringement or merely violations of contract.

Ouellette v. Viacom International Inc.

CV 10–133–M–DWM–JCL; 2011 WL 1882780
D. Mont. 2011

The safe harbor provision of the DMCA does not provide a cause of action against service providers that take down videos.

Cambridge University Press v. Becker

1:2008cv01425
N.D. Ga. 2011

University's use of copyrighted material in e-reserves does not constitute direct or vicarious infringement.

Golan v. Holder

132 S. Ct. 873
2012

The Constitution gives broad discretion to Congress to decide how best to promote the "progress of science and the useful arts"

Given the Wikipedia table in the article 'list of copyright case law' (section 'united states') on Wikipedia, determine the column type(s) that best describe the highlighted column from the type candidates provided: computer.software_license, music.musical_group, award.recurring_competition, chess.chess_player, geography.body_of_water, olympics.olympic_games, aviation.airport, american_football.football_team, law.invention, broadcast.genre, government.legislative_session, broadcast.artist, tennis.tennis_tournament, ice_hockey.hockey_player, martial_arts.martial_artist, geography.island, music.genre, business.industry, business.consumer_company, music.lyricist, sports.sports_championship, metropolitan_transit.transit_system, music.media_format, basketball.basketball_position, book.magazine, transportation.road, government.political_party, sports.sports_championship_event, architecture.structure, location.jp_prefecture, location.location, architecture.architectural_structure_owner, government.government_office_or_title, government.governmental_body, royalty.chivalric_order_member, medicine.drug_ingredient, fictional_universe.fictional_character, location.australian_local_government_area, people.person, broadcast.tv_station, music.group_member, film.producer, music.instrument, metropolitan_transit.transit_line, sports.boxer, ice_hockey.hockey_position, location.australian_state, exhibitions.exhibition_sponsor, royalty.kingdom, meteorology.tropical_cyclone_season, time.event, organization.membership_organization, soccer.football_league_season, tv.tv_network, award.award_discipline, location.us_state, basketball.basketball_team, location.us_county, military.military_unit, sports.sports_team, medicine.medical_treatment, award.hall_of_fame_inductee, royalty.noble_title, government.us_president, music.writer, meteorology.tropical_cyclone, music.music_video_director, chemistry.chemical_compound, rail.locomotive_class, basketball.basketball_conference, sports.sport, government.politician, protected_sites.listed_site, location.region, american_football.football_player, location.administrative_division, baseball.baseball_position, organization.non_profit_organization, business.business_operation, tv.tv_actor, time.recurring_event, business.customer, music.performance_role, film.film, biology.organism, biology.organism_classification, location.in_state, interests.collection_category, baseball.baseball_player, government.general_election, aviation.aircraft_owner, astronomy.celestial_object, cvg.cvg_platform, film.production_company, cricket.cricket_stadium, education.university, film.actor, location.capital_of_administrative_division, book.periodical_publisher, sports.sports_league_draft, boats.ship_type, soccer.football_world_cup, media_common.media_genre, organization.organization, internet.website_owner, law.court, american_football.football_conference, astronomy.astronomical_discovery, ice_hockey.hockey_team, medicine.drug, award.award_category, cvg.cvg_genre, cricket.cricket_player, tv.tv_personality, royalty.noble_person, government.election, soccer.fifa, amusement_parks.ride, film.music_contributor, sports.sports_facility, internet.website, cvg.cvg_publisher, travel.accommodation, computer.operating_system, tv.tv_program, astronomy.orbital_relationship, book.periodical_subject, education.school, broadcast.radio_format, geography.mountain, sports.golfer, military.rank, business.product_category, music.composer, soccer.football_position, sports.school_sports_team, award.competition, book.periodical, people.ethnicity, cvg.computer_videogame, tv.tv_character, sports.cyclist, computer.software, broadcast.tv_channel, sports.professional_sports_team, cvg.cvg_developer, basketball.basketball_player, business.defunct_company, people.family_member, religion.religion, location.citytown, food.food, book.author, cricket.cricket_team, american_football.football_coach, business.consumer_product, tv.tv_genre, business.brand, aviation.aircraft_model, location.in_district, tennis.tennis_tournament_champion, film.director, education.fraternity_sorority, book.written_work, broadcast.radio_station, soccer.football_team_manager, sports.sports_award_winner, broadcast.broadcast, education.educational_institution, film.film_character, tv.tv_series_episode, baseball.baseball_league, astronomy.constellation, military.military_person, music.composition, music.producer, sports.sports_league, music.musical_scale, tv.tv_director, architecture.venue, tv.tv_producer, language.human_language, olympics.olympic_event_competition, location.hud_county_place, government.u_s_congressperson, geography.river, military.military_conflict, law.legal_case, education.field_of_study, film.film_festival_focus, automotive.model, automotive.company, music.album, visual_art.visual_artist, music.record_label, education.educational_degree, location.province, tennis.tennis_player, government.government_agency, amusement_parks.park, soccer.football_team, chemistry.chemical_element, boats.ship_class, sports.pro_athlete, cricket.cricket_bowler, baseball.baseball_team, tv.tv_series_season, tv.tv_writer, astronomy.star_system_body, soccer.football_player, theater.theater_actor, royalty.monarch, award.award, theater.play, sports.sports_position, location.uk_constituent_country, location.country, business.job_title, location.uk_statistical_location, film.film_genre, aviation.airline, astronomy.asteroid, government.election_campaign, tv.tv_program_creator, award.award_presenting_organization, film.film_distributor, architecture.building, fictional_universe.fictional_organization, soccer.football_league, religion.religious_leader, medicine.disease, medicine.muscle, sports.tournament_event_competition, medicine.anatomical_structure, sports.sports_award_type, book.book, finance.currency, basketball.basketball_coach, military.military_post, music.artist, comic_books.comic_book_character, military.armed_force, boats.ship, celebrities.celebrity, computer.computer, spaceflight.astronaut, sports.multi_event_tournament, book.newspaper, award.award_ceremony, film.writer, sports.sports_league_season, education.athletics_brand, metropolitan_transit.transit_stop, biology.animal, soccer.football_award. Output just the chosen type(s) (comma-separate multiple values) inside the list of {"answer": ["ANSWER"]}.

{"answer": ["law.court"]}