Tennessee IP Law Blog

Enchant Christmas Light Maze & Mkt. Ltd. v. Glowco, LLC , No. 19-6282, 2020 WL 2487598 (6th Cir. May 14, 2020) Topic: Copyrights for light sculptures of animals and nature & Preliminary Injunctions Takeaways: Light Sculptures of Animals in various natural poses enjoys thin copyright protection at best. Similarity of light sculptures of animals and ice were inherent in their subject. Preliminary Injunction not proper when there was little likelihood of success on the merits of a copyright infringement claim, the light show had already ended, and a future show was speculative. https://www.fox13news.com/video/628335   https://nashvillefunforfamilies.com/glow-holiday-nashville/ Holding Holiday-themed light show producer "Enchant" brought action for injunctive relief against competitor, alleging infringement of its copyrights in a number of holiday-themed light sculptures. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Te...

Daniels v. Walt Disney Co. , 20 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 4019 (9th Cir. May 4, 2020) Topic: Copyrightability of Graphically-Depicted Characters Literary and graphic characters—from James Bond to the Batmobile—capture our creative imagination. These characters also may enjoy copyright protection, subject to certain limitations. Here we consider whether certain anthropomorphized characters representing human emotions qualify for copyright protection. They do not. For guidance, we turn to DC Comics v. Towle, our court’s most recent explanation of the copyrightability of graphically-depicted characters. DC Comics v. Towle , 802 F.3d 1012 (9th Cir. 2015). Denise Daniels developed a line of anthropomorphic characters called The Moodsters, which she pitched to entertainment and toy companies around the country, including The Walt Disney Company. Under Towle, “lightly sketched” characters such as The Moodsters, which lack “consistent, identifiable character traits and attributes,” do not enj...