fair-use
24 cases — ← All topics
| Case | Title | Lower Court | Docketed | Status | Flags | Tags | Question Presented |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25A1115 | Miranda Stovall v. Jefferson County Board of Education, dba Jefferson County Public Schools, et al. | Sixth Circuit | 2026-04-10 | Application | copyright-act copyright-infringement fair-use federal-jurisdiction open-records-law state-court-jurisdiction | This case presents the important question of whether federal courts or state courts may decide whether it is a fair use, under the Copyright Act, to r… | |
| 25A446 | Rodney Woodland v. Montero Lamar Hill | Ninth Circuit | 2025-10-17 | Presumed Complete | copyright-infringement fair-use ninth-circuit originality photographic-copyright sui-generis-rule | Question not identified. | |
| 24A1263 | Designworks Homes, Inc., et al. v. Columbia House of Brokers Realty, Inc., dba House of Brokers, Inc., dba Jackie Bulgin & Associates, et al. | Eighth Circuit | 2025-06-23 | Presumed Complete | architectural-design commercial-use copyright-law fair-use intellectual-property transformative-use | Question not identified. | |
| 24-1040 | Elliot McGucken v. Valnet, Inc., a Canadian Corporation, dba TheTravel.com | Ninth Circuit | 2025-04-01 | Denied | Amici (2)Response Waived | copyright-infringement fair-use public-display statutory-interpretation technological-process unauthorized-use | Whether the exclusive right to publicly display a copyrighted work, 17 U.S.C. § 106(5), is infringed when a website operator publicly shows a copyrigh… |
| 24-734 | Strategic Technology Institute, Incorporated v. MGMTL, L.L.C. | Fifth Circuit | 2025-01-13 | Denied | Response Waived | circuit-split computer-program copyright-law fair-use menu-command potential-market | 1. Whether the scope of protectable matter in a computer program is a question for the Court, as the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Te… |
| 23-958 | Joshua Moon, et al. v. Russell G. Greer | Tenth Circuit | 2024-03-04 | Denied | contributory-infringement copyright-infringement fair-use first-amendment material-contribution metro-goldwyn-mayer-studios-v-grokster takedown-notice | 1. Whether receipt of a takedown notice alone is sufficient to impute actual knowledge of copyright infringement to its recipient under the contributo… | |
| 22-531 | Alan Wofsy, et al. v. Vincent Sicre de Fontbrune, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Yves Sicre de Fontbrune, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2022-12-08 | Denied | circuit-split copyright-infringement creativity fair-use first-fair-use-factor originality-standard reproduction-rights scholarly-work third-fair-use-factor | Petitioner Alan Wofsy reproduced documentary photographs of Pablo Picasso's artwork for inclusion in a comprehensive, annotated series of reference bo… | |
| 22-5568 | Douglas Gordon v. United States | First Circuit | 2022-09-13 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | copyright-infringement criminal-conviction criminal-law evidence fair-use first-circuit jury-instructions orphan-works sufficiency-of-evidence willful-conduct | Whether the First Circuit correctly determined that the sufficiency of the evidence supported the jury's finding that Mr. Gordon acted willfully for t… |
| 21-869 | Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Lynn Goldsmith, et al. | Second Circuit | 2021-12-13 | Judgment Issued | Amici (41)Relisted (2) | artistic-intent copyright copyright-law fair-use judicial-interpretation meaning message second-circuit source-material transformative transformative-work | Whether a work of art is "transformative" when it conveys a different meaning or message from its source material (as this Court, the Ninth Circuit, a… |
| 21-660 | Freelancer International Pty Limited, et al. v. Upwork Global, Inc., et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2021-11-03 | Denied | Response Waived | counterfeit-mark fair-use fair-use-defense irreparable-harm preliminary-injunction retroactive-statute statutory-interpretation trademark trademark-law | For at least a decade, the petitioner has been using the registered and now-incontestable trademark "Freelancer" in commerce with various goods and se… |
| 21-5223 | Donnell Bledsoe v. CBS Television Network, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2021-07-28 | Denied | Relisted (2)IFP | civil-procedure constitutional-rights content-moderation copyright-infringement data-collection digital-privacy fair-use fourth-amendment intellectual-property privacy-policy social-media user-consent | The lower counts over looked The plant Statement on isty fhis appents Shrerdd v ge forwacd. the lowee couts wever reviewed the hodging Of EXIBET LLL A… |
| 21-6 | Lawrence Marano v. The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Second Circuit | 2021-07-06 | Denied | Response Waived | attribution commercial-use copyright-fair-use copyright-infringement fair-use licensing-market statutory-factors transformative-use | 1. Whether The Metropolitan Museum of Art's commercial use of a photograph on its Website to sell tickets to its museum exhibition, as well as in the … |
| 20-8308 | Wilhelmina Montgomery v. NBC Television, et al. | Second Circuit | 2021-06-15 | Denied | Relisted (2)IFP | civil-procedure copyright-infringement due-process fair-use jury-trial pro-se-litigation procedural-due-process service-of-process summary-dismissal summary-judgment visual-evidence | As I, the pro se Plaintiff-Appellant pointed out in my First Amended Complaint I. (Doc. 9) and in my Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 51) two (2) differ… |
| 20-1680 | ACI Information Group v. MidlevelU, Inc. | Eleventh Circuit | 2021-06-03 | Denied | Response Waived | copyright-infringement copyright-registration fair-use fraud implied-license internet-publication internet-publications statutory-interpretation statutory-mandate | 1. A party who uses a copyrightable work with the implied license of a copyright owner is not liable for infringement. Such a license can arise from i… |
| 20-1616 | ComicMix, LLC, et al. v. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. | Ninth Circuit | 2021-05-19 | Denied | Response Waived | burden-of-proof circuit-split copyright-act copyright-law de-novo-review exclusive-rights fair-use market-effect | (1) Whether fair use is a right of authors, thus placing the burden on plaintiffs to prove that fair use does not apply on defendants who assert that … |
| 20-1448 | Donna Corbello v. Franki Valli, et al. | Ninth Circuit | 2021-04-16 | Denied | copyright-estoppel copyright-infringement factual-work fair-use fiction first-publication ninth-circuit-doctrine original-expression public-claims unpublished-biography | 1. Whether the century-old equitable doctrine of copyright estoppel, which states that, once a work has been held out to the public as entirely factua… | |
| 19-8459 | Todd Erling Becker v. United States | Eleventh Circuit | 2020-05-14 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | civil-procedure copyright-infringement damages fair-use intellectual-property substantial-similarity | Whether there was probable cause to arrest Mr. Becker for the Florida burglary and robbery crime. 2. Did the FBI agent impliedly threaten Mr. Becker … |
| 19-560 | Jennie Nicassio v. Viacom International, Inc., et al. | Third Circuit | 2019-10-29 | Denied | Response WaivedRelisted (2) | actual-copying circuit-split copyright-infringement fair-use fairness idea-expression-dichotomy originality plot-elements scenes-a-faire wrongful-appropriation | Whether the scènes-à-faire evidence exclusion for actual copying should extend to all plot elements naturally flowing from a simple formulation of the… |
| 18-1557 | William James, et al. v. Barbara Hunt, et al. | Eleventh Circuit | 2019-06-20 | Denied | Response Waived | abuse-of-discretion civil-procedure civil-rico copyright-act copyright-infringement creative-rights due-process fair-use first-amendment intellectual-property licensing plagiarism | A. Whether the U.S. Copyright Act and Clause 17 U.S.C. 501, the Copyright Act Clause and the First Amendment of the U.S. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 8, equal… |
| 18-1430 | ReDigi Inc., et al. v. Capitol Records, LLC, et al. | Second Circuit | 2019-05-14 | Denied | Amici (2)Response Waived | copyright copyright-law copyright-reproduction digital-distribution electronic-transfer exhaustion exhaustion-doctrine fair-use first-sale-doctrine reproduction-right statutory-interpretation | 1. Under 17 U.S.C. § 109(a), is the acknowledged owner of a particular digital phonorecord lawfully purchased via electronic distribution under 17 U.S… |
| 18-9089 | Itoffee Gayle v. Home Box Office, Inc., et al. | Second Circuit | 2019-05-02 | Denied | Response WaivedIFP | appellate-review civil-procedure copyright-infringement due-process fair-use federal-jurisdiction first-amendment intellectual-property motion-to-dismiss second-circuit standing | The plaintiff's intellectual property was featured in defendant's (HBO) series, Vinyl. Judge Jesse M. Furman of the New York Southern District granted… |
| 18-956 | Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. | Federal Circuit | 2019-01-25 | Judgment Issued | CVSGAmici (77)Relisted (4) | 17-usc-102 17-usc-107 computer-code computer-program copyright-law copyright-protection fair-use federal-circuit intellectual-property software-development software-interface | 1. Whether copyright protection extends to a software interface. 2. Whether, as the jury found, petitioner's use of a software interface in the conte… |
| 18-6129 | Arika Matelyan v. CD Baby Distribution Co. | Ninth Circuit | 2018-09-28 | Denied | IFP | civil-procedure civil-rights copyright copyright-infringement due-process fair-use first-amendment intellectual-property standing | Question not identified. |
| 18-321 | TVEyes, Inc. v. Fox News Network, LLC | Second Circuit | 2018-09-12 | Denied | Amici (1) | 17-usc-107 campbell-v-acuff-rose commercial-success copyright-law fair-use market-harm second-circuit statutory-factors transformative-use | In copyright law, the defense of fair use covers the transformative use of a work for research, comment, criticism and parody. Whether a use is "fair"… |