Source: http://survivorbb.rapeutation.com/viewtopic.php?f=192&t=3403&p=21429&sid=4d403ed8773267a8ab2c8829c519dabd
Timestamp: 2018-03-19 10:47:12
Document Index: 330901179

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 102', '§ 2', '§ 2', '§ 107', '§ 107', '§ 107', '§ 23', '§ 43', '§ 43', '§ 1125']

Altruistic World Online Library • View topic - Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. vs. Penguin Books USA
Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. vs. Penguin Books USA
by admin » Fri Nov 24, 2017 10:02 pm
DR. SEUSS ENTERPRISES, L.P., PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, V. PENGUIN BOOKS USA, INC., A CORPORATION; DOVE AUDIO, INC., A CORPORATION, DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS
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The Cat NOT in the Hat! -- A Parody, by Dr. Juice As Told to Alan Katz, Illustrated by Chris Wrinn
To prove a case of copyright infringement, Seuss must prove both ownership of a valid copyright and infringement of that copyright by invasion of one of the five exclusive rights. See Brown Bag Software v. Symantec Corp., 960 F.2d 1465, 1472 (9th Cir.) cert. denied, 506 U.S. 869, 113 S.Ct. 198, 121 L.Ed.2d 141 (1992). First, Seuss is the owner of the Dr. Seuss copyrights and holds valid copyright registration certificates. Second, Katz admitted that the "style of the illustrations and lettering used in [The Cat NOT in the Hat!] were inspired by [The Cat in the Hat]. ..." To satisfy the infringement test, Seuss must demonstrate "substantial similarity" between the copyrighted work and the allegedly infringing work. "Substantial similarity" refers to similarity of expression, not merely similarity of ideas or concepts. See 17 U.S.C. § 102(b).
Penguin and Dove's argument is based on an analytic dissection of the following elements: (1) infringement cannot be based on the title of the parody because it is "clear, as a matter of statutory construction by the courts (as well as Copyright Office regulations), that titles may not claim statutory copyright." Nimmer on Copyright, § 2.6, at 2-185-187 (footnotes omitted); (2) the design of the lettering of the words used in the accused work cannot be found to infringe, because Congress decided not to award copyright protection to design elements of letters. Id. § 2.15, at 2-178.6; (3) the poetic meter used in Cat in the Hat known as anapestic tetrameter is no more capable of exclusive ownership than its well-known counterpart, iambic pentameter; (4) no claim of ownership may be based on the whimsical poetic style that employs neologisms and onomatopoeia. See v. Durang, 711 F.2d 141, 143 (9th Cir.1983); and (5) the visual style of illustration using line drawing, coloring, and shading techniques similar to those used in The Cat in the Hat are not copyrightable. See Midler v. Ford Motor Company, 849 F.2d 460 (9th Cir.1988).[5] However, this kind of analytic dissection is not appropriate when conducting the subjective or "intrinsic test" (asking if an "ordinary reasonable person" would perceive a substantial taking of protected expression) under Krofft. Penguin and Dove's contentions on this issue are thus unavailing.
The first factor in a fair use inquiry is "the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes." § 107(1). While this inquiry does not specify which purpose might render a given use "fair," the preamble to § 107 provides an illustrative, though not limitative, listing which includes "criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research."
§ 107. Under this factor, the inquiry is whether The Cat NOT in the Hat! merely supersedes the Dr. Seuss creations, or whether and to what extent the new work is "transformative," i.e., altering The Cat in the Hat with new expression, meaning or message.
It is the rule in this Circuit that though the satire need not be only of the copied work and may ... also be a parody of modern society, the copied work must be, at least in part, an object of the parody, otherwise there would be no need to conjure up the original work.... By requiring that the copied work be an object of the parody, we merely insist that the audience be aware that underlying the parody there is an original and separate expression, attributable to a different artist.
hese stanzas and the illustrations simply retell the Simpson tale. Although The Cat NOT in the Hat! does broadly mimic Dr. Seuss' characteristic style, it does not hold his style up to ridicule. The stanzas have "no critical bearing on the substance or style of" The Cat in the Hat. Katz and Wrinn merely use the Cat's stove-pipe hat, the narrator ("Dr.Juice"), and the title (The Cat NOT in the Hat!) "to get attention" or maybe even "to avoid the drudgery in working up something fresh." Acuff-Rose, 510 U.S. at 580, 114 S.Ct. at 1172. While Simpson is depicted 13 times in the Cat's distinctively scrunched and somewhat shabby red and white stove-pipe hat, the substance and content of The Cat in the Hat is not conjured up by the focus on the Brown-Goldman murders or the O.J. Simpson trial. Because there is no effort to create a transformative work with "new expression, meaning, or message," the infringing work's commercial use further cuts against the fair use defense.[9] Id. at 578, 114 S.Ct. at 1171.
The issue in trademark infringement actions is not the alleged appropriation of Seuss' creative expression, but rather, the likelihood of confusion in the market place as to the source of Penguin and Dove's The Cat NOT in the Hat!. "Likelihood of confusion" is the basic test for both common law trademark infringement and federal statutory trademark infringement.[12] 3 J. Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition, § 23.01[1] (rev. ed.1994). A federal claim under Lanham Act
§ 43(a) for infringement of an unregistered mark is triggered by a use which "is likely to cause confusion, or to cause mistake, or to deceive as to the affiliation, connection, or association" of The Cat NOT in the Hat! with Seuss' The Cat in the Hat. Lanham Act § 43(a), 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)(1)(A).
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