For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, September 18, 2017, we will discuss the following cases:

Greg Young Publishing v Zazzle, (C.D. Cal, May 1, 2017) (available here). Zazzle is a website that allows customers to upload images and print them on merchandise. Greg Young Publishing (GYP) sued Zazzle alleging they publicly displayed GYP’s copyrighted images on their website, as well as printed them on merchandise ordered by customers. Zazzle asserted the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA. On summary judgment, the court found Zazzle did not qualify as a “service provider” under the DMCA, because it actually received a financial benefit from selling merchandise imprinted with the copyrighted images.

Hosseinzadeh, v Klein, (S.D.N.Y., August 23, 2017) (available here). Plaintiff and defendant both make comedic videos on YouTube. Defendants made a video using clips from plaintiff’s videos in which they criticize plaintiff and his work. Plaintiff sued for copyright infringement and defamation. On summary judgment, the court found the defendant’s video made fair use of plaintiff’s clips, and that defendant’s video was not defamatory.

All are invited to join us on September 18, 2017, at noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Elisha Manzur by 9 am Monday morning.