RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘‘rejects’’

US Supreme Court rejects request to hear ‘Jumpman’ copyright suit against Nike

27 Mar

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear Jacobus ‘Co’ Willem Rentmeester’s copyright case involving the Nike ‘Jumpman’ logo, the high court has announced. The reason for the court’s decision remains unclear, but it leaves in place the 2018 ruling by an appeals court that found Nike hadn’t infringed upon Rentmeester’s image copyright with its iconic ‘Jumpman’ logo.

The legal matter began in 2015 when Rentmeester filed a copyright lawsuit against Nike over its ‘Jumpman’ logo featuring a silhouette of athlete Michael Jordan. The logo was based on an image of Michael Jordan produced by Nike in 1985, which was itself allegedly based on an image Rentmeester took of Jordan as a freelancer for Time Magazine. The two images, while expressing the same idea, are different.

Nike had originally paid Rentmeester $ 150 to license two of his 35mm transparencies featuring Jordan. Following that, the company paid Rentmeester $ 15,000 for a two-year license to use its own image based on the one Rentmeester took after he threatened litigation. In 1987, Nike then created the Jumpan silhouette logo based on its Michael Jordan image and it has used that logo in the years since.

Rentmeester’s January 2015 copyright infringement lawsuit was rejected by a federal court in Portland, Oregon, in June 2015. According to that court, Nike’s image presented a different expression of the idea behind the two images and copyright law only protects the expression of ideas.

The legal spat went to an appeals court, which ruled in 2018 that Nike’s image didn’t infringe upon the protected expression in Rentmeester’s image. The appeals court stated that the subject’s pose cannot be copyrighted, which would prevent other photographers from taking images of the person striking the same pose. Elements like shutter speed, camera angle, and timing all contribute to the expression of the idea in Rentmeester’s image, the court said.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on US Supreme Court rejects request to hear ‘Jumpman’ copyright suit against Nike

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Monkey copyright lawsuit finally over, court rejects PETA’s claims

25 Apr
Photo: David Slater

PETA’s “monkey selfie” copyright lawsuit has finally, finally reached a satisfying ending. On Monday, a three-judge panel with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that only humans can pursue copyright infringement claims, upholding a lower court’s decision after a judge refused to let PETA settle its way out of this likely conclusion.

In its ruling, the court said:

Affirming the district court’s dismissal of claims brought by a monkey, the panel held that the animal had constitutional standing but lacked statutory standing to claim copyright infringement of photographs known as the “MonkeySelfies.” … The panel held that the monkey lacked statutory standing because the Copyright Act does not expressly authorize animals to file copyright infringement suits.

The ruling follows the Ninth Circuit’s decision earlier this month to reject PETA’s settlement dismissal request.

PETA had argued that the macaque named Naruto, not camera owner David Slater, owned the copyright because it took the image itself. Courts had expressed skepticism about PETA’s argument, also questioning whether the organization had a suitable relationship with the monkey to sue on its behalf.

In September 2017, PETA announced a settlement with Slater; it asked the Ninth Circuit Court to dismiss the case and vacate the lower court’s ruling. However, in a decision earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit indicated that it had rejected the request because it seemed to be PETA’s way to avoid establishing a precedent. The court had also stated:

As one of our colleagues once warned in a similar context, “courts must be particularly wary of abetting ‘strategic behavior’ on the part of institutional litigants whose continuing interest in the development in the law may transcend their immediate interest in the outcome of a particular case.”

The ruling doesn’t impact PETA’s settlement with Slater, which requires the photographer to donate 25% of future revenue from the image to charities that protect crested macaques in Indonesia.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Monkey copyright lawsuit finally over, court rejects PETA’s claims

Posted in Uncategorized

 

PETA monkey selfie lawsuit lives on, judge rejects attempted settlement

17 Apr
Photo: David Slater

It’s the copyright lawsuit that refuses to die. In September 2017, PETA finally settled its monkey selfie lawsuit with photographer David Slater, ending years of financially destructive litigation. However, a request to dismiss the case has since been rejected by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which points out in a newly published order that it’s not required to honor the dismissal request.

The decision to proceed with a ruling appears to be the Ninth Circuit’s way of preventing PETA from dodging a legal outcome that would interfere with potential future litigation of a similar nature. The Court’s order states, in part, that:

…denying the motion to dismiss and declining to vacate the lower court judgement prevents the parties from manipulating precedent in a way that suits their institutional preferences.

The Ninth Circuit further narrows down the thought process behind continuing the lawsuit, stating in the order:

As one of our colleagues once warned in a similar context, “courts must be particularly wary of abetting ‘strategic behavior’ on the part of institutional litigants whose continuing interest in the development in the law may transcend their immediate interest in the outcome of a particular case.”

PETA’s settlement was anticipated last year after signs surfaced indicating the courts weren’t in the organization’s favor. In July 2017, for example, PETA’s attorney faced a series of questions from judges including whether the organization’s relationship with the monkey was of the nature that it could sue on the animal’s behalf. Before that, a federal judge in San Francisco found that the monkey doesn’t have legal standing to sue.

By settling—assuming the case were dismissed and a lower court’s judgement vacated—PETA could dodge a ruling that it may not like; a ruling that could establish a precedent that would prevent it from filing similar lawsuits on the behalf of animals in the future. The Ninth Circuit’s order also states:

We note that although PETA joins Appellants in the motions to dismiss the appeal and to vacate the district court judgment, and claims to have reached a settlement agreement with Appellees, it also points out that Naruto is not a party to the settlement agreement. It appears that the settlement agreement would not bar another attempt to file a new action.

A final ruling in the case is forthcoming.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on PETA monkey selfie lawsuit lives on, judge rejects attempted settlement

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Portrait Salon ‘rejects’ exhibition opens in London

06 Nov

An exhibition of images that were rejected by the UK’s National Portrait Gallery is about to go on show in London, organized by Portrait Salon. In its fourth year, the organization will display 70 portraits from a submission of 1184 photographs, all of which have failed to make the shortlist for the 2014 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize – a global portrait competition hosted by the National Portrait Gallery. Read more

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
Comments Off on Portrait Salon ‘rejects’ exhibition opens in London

Posted in Uncategorized