Opinion ID: 766357
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Hamil America's Copyright Registration

Text: 15 As we stated in Folio Impressions, copyright protection extends to fabric designs: 16 The right of an author under the common law to have the sole right of first printing and publishing his work was settled early in England by Lord Mansfield writing for the majority in Millar v. Taylor, 4 Burrows 2303 (1769). This common law concept was adopted in our Constitution which authorized Congress [t]o promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. U.S. Const. art. I, § 8. The word writings is broadly construed; it includes all its forms that may be used to the end that the author's ideas are tangibly expressed. . . . Among those forms of writings now recognized as entitled to copyright protection are fabric designs . . . . 17 Folio Impressions, 937 F.2d at 762 (citing Millworth Converting Corp. v. Slifka, 276 F.2d 443 (2d Cir. 1960); Peter Pan Fabrics, Inc. v. Martin Weiner Corp., 274 F.2d 487 (2d Cir. 1960)). To establish a copyright infringement cause of action, a plaintiff must show both ownership of a copyright and unauthorized copying by the defendant. See id. at 763. 18 The appellants contend that the district court's finding of liability must be reversed because Hamil America never proved that it owned a valid copyright for the allegedly infringed pattern. They argue that no valid copyright registration statement for Hamil America's Pattern No. 96 had been issued from the copyright office, and no valid certificate was ever entered into evidence. 19 We disagree. The parties stipulated below that Hamil America registered Pattern No. 96 with the United States Register of Copyrights in April 1995 and that Hamil America received a certificate of registration. A certificate of registration from the United States Register of Copyrights constitutes prima facie evidence of the valid ownership of a copyright, although that presumption of ownership may be rebutted. See Rogers v. Koons, 960 F.2d 301, 306 (2d Cir. 1992); Folio Impressions, 937 F.2d at 763. The party challenging the validity of the copyright has the burden to prove the contrary. See Hasbro Bradley, Inc. v. Sparkle Toys, Inc., 780 F.2d 189, 192 (2d Cir. 1985). 20 The appellants argued below that there was no valid registration because different companies were variously named as owners of the copyright for Pattern No. 96. As we noted above, Hamil America supplemented its registration after it received the certificate of registration for Pattern No. 96. It first corrected the registration to indicate that the artist who designed the pattern was actually employed by Hamil America's sister company, Hamil Textiles (U.S.A.), Ltd., rather than Hamil America. It later amended the registration to indicate that Tangiers International Ltd. was the author. These amendments to the registration simply clarified the ownership of the copyright in light of the relationships between the relevant companies: Hamil America and Hamil Textiles (U.S.A.) Ltd. were sister companies that shared a design studio; Hamil Textiles merged into Tangiers International; and Hamil America and Tangiers International are both owned by The Algo Group, a Canadian publicly traded corporation. Hamil America's corrections did not invalidate the copyright registration. See Eckes v. Card Prices Update, 736 F.2d 859, 861 62 (2d Cir. 1984) (stating that [o]nly the knowing failure to advise the Copyright Office of facts which might have occasioned a rejection of the application constitute[s] reason for holding the registration invalid and thus incapable of supporting an infringement action) (quoting Russ Berrie & Co. v. Jerry Elsner Co., 482 F. Supp. 980, 988 (S.D.N.Y. 1990)); see also 17 U.S.C. § 408(d) (1996) (stating that information contained in a supplementary registration, submitted to correct or to amplify the information in an earlier registration, augments but does not supersede the information in the earlier registration). 21 Moreover, even if Hamil America's recordation was initially inadequate, this alleged shortcoming did not justify dismissal of its copyright action. [C]ourts have consistently permitted a plaintiff to correct a defective recordation, and to go forward with the suit as of the date of the filing of the action. Northern Songs, Ltd. v. Distinguished Prods., Inc., 581 F. Supp. 638, 641 (S.D.N.Y. 1984); see also Kenbrooke Fabrics, Inc. v. Soho Fashions, Inc., 690 F. Supp. 298, 302 (S.D.N.Y. 1988) (denying defendant's motion for summary judgment that was predicated in part on plaintiff's alleged failure to record transfer of copyright properly). The appellants have not shown that they were prejudiced in any way by Hamil America's alleged failure to obtain a valid copyright. See Northern Songs, Ltd., 581 F. Supp. at 641 (declining to dismiss copyright action on grounds that plaintiff improperly recorded memorandum of transfer of copyright where defendants did not demonstrate that they were prejudiced by plaintiff's alleged errors). The appellants have failed to rebut the presumption that Hamil America validly owned the copyright for Pattern No. 96.