3 Count: Shopify vs. Seed

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1: Netflix Wins Second Chance to Appeal ‘Tiger King’ Copyright Ruling

First off today, Blake Brittain at Reuters reports that the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed to hear new arguments in a case that pits streaming giant Netflix against a cameraman whose work was featured in the Tiger King series.

The case was filed by Timothy Sepi, who sued Netflix alleging that the company illegally used video he created as part of the series. Sepi originally laid claim to 8 clips, but seven were tossed after it was ruled he was an employee and not the copyright holder. However, on the eigth clip, which included footage from a funeral, he was not an employee, so the case continued on that work alone.

The lower court found that Netflix had made a fair use of the footage. However, a panel of judges at the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that, saying the use was not transformative. The case was remanded to the lower court, but now the 10th Circuit has agreed to hear it en banc, meaning that all judges in the circuit will participate. Specifically, the court is trying to determine how the recent Warhol decision impacts the case and documentary filmmaking more broadly.

2: Appeals Court Upholds Childish Gambino Victory in ‘This Is America’ Copyright Infringement Case

Next up today, Daniel Tencer at Music Business Worldwide reports that Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) has emerged victorious in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals as the appeals court upheld a lower court decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him.

The case was filed by Emelike Nwosuocha (aka Kidd Wes), who alleged that Glover’s 2018 hit song This is America was an infrgement of Nwosuocha’a 2016 song Made In America. However, the lower court dismissed the case saying that Nwosuocha didn’t hold a copyright registration on the composition, just the sound recording of his song.

The appeals court has upheld that decision, saying that the district court was correct to dismiss the case on those grounds. Neither court made any determination about the similarities between the works.

3: Shopify Sues Chinese E-Commerce Rival, Alleging Copyright Infringement

Finally today, Daniel Johnson at BNN Bloomberg reports that Shopify has filed a lawsuit against Shopline, a subsidary of Joyy Inc., alleging that the company is infringing a software application they offer.

Shopify, as part of their service, provide a program named Dawn that allows users to customze storefront templates for ecommerce sites. They allege that Shopline created their own version of Dawn, named Seed, and is distributing it around the world.

Accoridng to the lawsuit, Seed is a “thinly-disguised knockoff”. They further claim to have found a webpage entitled “Seed Theme” that carries headers that read “dawn-test.” Shopify also alleges that their name still appears in the code for various versions of See that Shopline is distributing.

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