Fortnightly Corp. v. United Artists Television, Inc.

In a suit by music labels over an internet service provider's subscribers sharing copyrighted music, the Court held the provider was not contributorily liable for its users' infringement and reversed the Fourth Circuit.· AI-written

The Court held that, assuming the discovery rule applies to copyright infringement, the three-year statute of limitations for an infringement suit does not prevent recovery.

The Court ruled that a foundation's licensing of Andy Warhol's Prince Series images, based on a photographer's photograph of Prince, was not protected by fair use, as the works shared a similar purpose.· AI-written

The Court held that a lack of either factual or legal knowledge can excuse an inaccuracy in a copyright registration.

In a dispute over Google's use of Java APIs in Android, the Court ruled that Google's use fell within fair use, bypassed the copyrightability question, reversed the Federal Circuit, and remanded the case.· AI-written

The Court ruled that the Official Code of Georgia Annotated could not be copyrighted, because its annotations were authored by an arm of the legislature in the course of its legislative duties and so fell under the government edicts doctrine.· AI-written

In a copyright infringement dispute, the Court held that the Copyright Act's award of "full costs" to a prevailing party was limited to the taxable costs defined by the Fee Act of 1853, rejecting a broader reading covering other litigation expenses.· AI-written

The Court unanimously ruled that a copyright infringement suit must wait until the copyright is successfully registered by the United States Copyright Office.

In a dispute between two cheerleading uniform makers, the Court rejected the argument that the designs were uncopyrightable because of their utilitarian purpose and held that the aesthetic elements of the clothing designs could be copyrightable.· AI-written

The Court ruled that the service provided by Aereo, which allowed subscribers to view live and time-shifted streams of over-the-air television on Internet-connected devices, violated copyright laws.

The Court held 6-3 that the equitable defense of laches is not available to copyright defendants in claims for damages.

The Court held, 6–3, that the first-sale doctrine exhausts copyright of the works lawfully made or purchased abroad.

The Court held that the "limited time" language of the United States Constitution's Copyright Clause does not preclude the extension of copyright protections to works previously in the public domain.

In a copyright dispute over unauthorized sale of authentic, imported watches bearing a registered design, the court held that the first-sale doctrine was not a defense to claims of infringing distribution and importation.· AI-written

The Court held that failure to register a copyright under Section 411 (a) of the United States Copyright Act does not limit a Federal Court's jurisdiction over claims of infringement regarding unregistered works.

The Court ruled unanimously that the defendants, peer-to-peer file sharing companies Grokster and Streamcast (maker of Morpheus), could be held liable for inducing copyright infringement by users of their file sharing software.

The Supreme Court disagreed and allowed the statute to remain in effect.

The Court held that a newspaper publisher, in licensing back issues for electronic databases such as LexisNexis, could not license the works of freelance journalists contained in those newspapers, affirming the writers' copyright privileges.· AI-written

In a trademark dispute, the Court determined that a functional design could not be eligible for trademark protection and established a presumption that a patented design is inherently functional.· AI-written

The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that if there is to be an award of statutory damages in a copyright infringement case, then the opposing party has the right to demand a jury trial.

In a dispute over whether software copyright covers a program's user interface such as menus, the Court, split evenly with one justice recused, left the lower court's decision affirmed without setting national precedent.· AI-written

In a copyright case over a commercial parody, the Court established that a commercial parody can qualify as fair use, and that earning money from a work does not bar fair use but is only one factor in the analysis.· AI-written

The Court held that a successor copyright owner (one who obtains ownership later on, such as the heirs of a copyright owner who dies) has the exclusive right to permit the creation and exploitation of derivative works, regardless of potentially conflicting agreements by prior copyright holders.

The Court held that The Nation's quoting and summarizing of President Ford's forthcoming memoir was not fair use, rejecting its public-interest argument because the right of first publication was important enough to favor Harper & Row.· AI-written

The Court held that if the author of a work authorizes derivatives, the terms negotiated in exchange for that grant stand even if the grant is later rescinded.

The court held that receiving a song over a radio signal does not constitute a "performance," and therefore does not infringe upon the exclusive right to perform the copyrighted work publicly for profit.

The high court ruled that California's state statutes criminalizing record piracy did not violate the Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution.

The Court held the executor of a copyright holder's will is eligible to renew that copyright.