Opinion ID: 77009
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Cancellation of DVH 0056

Text: 20 In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Bonito Boats, Inc. v. Thunder Craft Boats, Inc., 489 U.S. 141, 109 S.Ct. 971, 103 L.Ed.2d 118 (1989), Congress passed the VHDPA to provide copyright protection to the owners of certain vessel hull designs. Specifically, the VHDPA provides copyright protection to the owner of an original vessel hull design, 17 U.S.C. § 1301(a)(1); and, it also provides copyright protection to the owner of a vessel hull design that is a substantial revision, adaptation, or rearrangement of a design that is otherwise excluded from protection under 17 U.S.C. § 1302. 17 U.S.C. § 1303 (emphasis added). 21 Maverick attempted to obtain protection for its original Pathfinder 2200 V-Hull design by submitting an application for registration under the VHDPA in February 2001. This application resulted in DVH 0049, which, as previously noted, is invalid under 17 U.S.C. § 1302(5). Maverick then submitted an application for the registration of its revised Pathfinder 2200 V-Hull design. This application resulted in DVH 0056 and is at issue in this litigation. 22 Maverick argued in the district court (as it does here) that its revised design is a substantial revision of the original design and, thus, that it is entitled to protection pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 1303. The district court disagreed and specifically found that the design Maverick registered in DVH 0056 was not a substantial revision, adaptation, or rearrangement of the original Pathfinder 2200 V-Hull design as required by 17 U.S.C. § 1303. 23 The starting point in statutory construction is the language of the statute, and if that is plain, then the sole function of the court is to enforce the statute according to its terms. Gonzalez v. McNary, 980 F.2d 1418, 1420 (11th Cir.1993). The plain language of 17 U.S.C. § 1303, upon which the district court relied, provides that only a substantial change to a design may be protected. In order to determine whether Maverick's revision was substantial, the district court considered the following factors: (1) the nature of the changes made to the original Pathfinder 2200 V-Hull design; (2) the similarities between the original design and the revised design; and (3) the lack of evidence of the revision process, including, for example, the lack of evidence to support the veracity of the publication date on DVH 0056. 24 After considering these factors, and the evidence, the district court correctly determined that the changes made to the original design were merely corrections to a mistake, and not substantial. AMH and Blazer's expert witness, Augusto Villalon, testified that the changes made to the original design were minimal (such as straightening the sheer line) and that they did not affect the design of the boat. Maverick did not proffer any expert testimony as to the differences between the two boats. In fact, Maverick did not attempt to secure an original design to compare it with a revised design, and it did not point to any specific differences between the two boats — either apparent to the naked eye or based on specific measurements — that would demonstrate the extent of the differences in the two designs. Moreover, Maverick failed to introduce any records to reflect the actual changes between the original design and the alleged revised design; there was no change made to the name of the boat or the model number of the boat; the two boats were held out to the public as the same boat; nothing in Maverick's advertising indicated that there was an original and a revised design; and Maverick sold both versions simultaneously without any representation that one was an original design and the other a revised design. 25 After reviewing the record, reading the parties' briefs, and having the benefit of oral argument, we conclude that the district court was correct in finding that the changes made by Maverick to the original Pathfinder 2200 V-Hull design were merely corrections to a mistake. In fact, the correction of an unintended problem does not create a new design, but merely makes the original design what it was always intended to be. Because Maverick simply corrected mistakes in its original design, did not inform the public that its corrected version was in fact a revised or improved version, and presented no evidence as to the extent or nature of its corrections, we cannot conclude that its purported revised design constitutes the substantial revision that Congress plainly intended to be protected by 17 U.S.C. § 1303. Accordingly, we agree with the district court's finding that Maverick is not entitled to the protection offered by the VHDPA for DVH 0056.