Tennessee IP Law Blog

Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. , 20 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 3636 (U.S. Apr. 27, 2020) Topic: Copyrightability of Statutory Code The Copyright Act grants monopoly protection for “original works of authorship.” 17 U.S.C. § 102(a). Under the government edicts doctrine, officials empowered to speak with the force of law cannot be the authors of the works they create in the course of their official duties. The State of Georgia has one official code—the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA). That Code includes the text of every Georgia statute currently in force, as well as a set of non-binding annotations that appear beneath each statutory provision. The annotations typically include summaries of judicial opinions construing each provision, summaries of pertinent opinions of the state attorney general, and a list of related law review articles and other reference materials. The OCGA is assembled by the Code Revision Commission, a state entity composed mostly of legislators...

Topic: Copyright Infringement - Music "Girl 6" Album Cover - www.princevault.com Plaintiff James Brandon owns the copyright for “Phone Sex,” a song created in 1993 by “GOMAD,” a musical group managed by Mr. Brandon. In 2015, Mr. Brandon brought an action in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging that the song “Girl 6”—performed by Prince for Spike Lee’s film of the same name—infringed on the copyright for Phone Sex. The Southern District of Florida dismissed that case with prejudice, holding that Mr. Brandon had failed to state a claim that Girl 6 infringed the copyright for Phone Sex. But Mr. Brandon did not get the message. Instead, he filed this action raising the same claims against a different set of defendants. Because the doctrine of collateral estoppel clearly bars Mr. Brandon from relitigating claims that were previously decided against him, this action, like its subject, is fruitless. Defendants’ motion to dismiss...

Last week, the U.S. Copyright Office began allowing application submissions of an electronic copy (coupled with a sworn statement it is a true and identical copy) for works that traditionally required a physical copy, or "best edition" deposit, to be sent and examined.  Where required, some applicants must still send in a physical copy with their application, but allowing an accompanying electronic copy enables applicant processors to examine these types of works to grant registration when they would traditionally not have been able to without examining the physical copy itself. The office has continued to process applications for works that can be submitted fully electronically normally, but all applicants that require a physical deposit will now also have the electronic option from the start. The full story: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/copyright-office-allows-proxy-submissions-for-physical-copies