Columbia Law School
Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts
THE VISUAL ARTS INFRINGEMENT DATABASE
How to Use this Site
Welcome to the Visual Arts Infringement Database. We conceived this site as a user-friendly tool for lawyers, students, academics, and artists alike. There are multiple sections, many of which are interwoven; we offer this quick guide to explain how a user can get the most out of the site. Below, we break down each section and provide a “How To” guide to its use:
Cases:
These pages, divided between “Decided” and “Settled” cases, form the crux of our site. Decided cases are those in which a case reached a conclusion through the court system, and a judicial opinion issued. Settled cases are those in which the parties came to an agreement after a suit was filed but before a judge issued a ruling on the merits or a jury rendered a verdict. These cases have no relevant judicial opinions.
Here ("Decided") and here ("Settled") is where you will be able to see a list of all cases on our site, which you can sort in a myriad of ways. Users can sort by:
● Year Case was Decided or Settled
● Case name, A-Z
● Court
● Case name, A-Z
● Court
o Copyright infringement is a matter of federal law, decided in federal courts. Therefore, all the courts referenced on this site are United States Federal Courts.
o The Federal Court system divides the United States into 13 areas, called judicial Circuits. Each of these Circuits has two “levels” of courts – the lower court, called the District Court, and the higher court, called the Circuit Court of Appeals. Cases are first brought in District Court and heard by one judge. That judge’s decision can be appealed by the losing party to the Circuit court. The Circuit court must hear any case brought to it on appeal. The appeal is normally heard by three judges (each circuit has between six and 29 judges including a Chief Judge). Those judges then issue a decision in the case after hearing brief summaries of the arguments in the case and asking questions of the parties’ attorneys. If the losing party is still unsatisfied with the judicial reasoning in the case, they may request that the United States Supreme Court agree to hear a further appeal (rarely granted), or they can ask the Circuit Court to rehear the case en banc. When the full Circuit court rehears a case en banc the court will vacate the panel’s opinion and grant a new hearing on the case with every circuit judge present and deliberating on the opinion. If a party asks the Supreme Court to hear a case, this is called petitioning for certiorari. Unlike the Circuit courts, however, the Supreme Court may choose not to hear the case, so certiorari (often abbreviated “cert”) can be granted or denied.
o 12 of the 13 circuits divide the country, the final circuit, the Federal Circuit, handles special types of claims.
o The Federal Court system divides the United States into 13 areas, called judicial Circuits. Each of these Circuits has two “levels” of courts – the lower court, called the District Court, and the higher court, called the Circuit Court of Appeals. Cases are first brought in District Court and heard by one judge. That judge’s decision can be appealed by the losing party to the Circuit court. The Circuit court must hear any case brought to it on appeal. The appeal is normally heard by three judges (each circuit has between six and 29 judges including a Chief Judge). Those judges then issue a decision in the case after hearing brief summaries of the arguments in the case and asking questions of the parties’ attorneys. If the losing party is still unsatisfied with the judicial reasoning in the case, they may request that the United States Supreme Court agree to hear a further appeal (rarely granted), or they can ask the Circuit Court to rehear the case en banc. When the full Circuit court rehears a case en banc the court will vacate the panel’s opinion and grant a new hearing on the case with every circuit judge present and deliberating on the opinion. If a party asks the Supreme Court to hear a case, this is called petitioning for certiorari. Unlike the Circuit courts, however, the Supreme Court may choose not to hear the case, so certiorari (often abbreviated “cert”) can be granted or denied.
o 12 of the 13 circuits divide the country, the final circuit, the Federal Circuit, handles special types of claims.
◾ The D.C. Circuit covers Washington D.C.
◾ The First Circuit covers Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico
◾ The Second Circuit covers New York, Vermont, and Connecticut
◾ The Third Circuit covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware
◾ The Fourth Circuit covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina
◾ The Fifth Circuit covers Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
◾ The Sixth Circuit covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee
◾ The Seventh Circuit covers from Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin
◾ The Eighth Circuit covers North Dakota, South Dakota Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas
◾ The Ninth Circuit covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands
◾ The Tenth Circuit covers Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma§ The Eleventh Circuit covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia and the U.S. Virgin Islands
◾ The Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
◾ The First Circuit covers Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico
◾ The Second Circuit covers New York, Vermont, and Connecticut
◾ The Third Circuit covers New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware
◾ The Fourth Circuit covers Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina
◾ The Fifth Circuit covers Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas
◾ The Sixth Circuit covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee
◾ The Seventh Circuit covers from Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin
◾ The Eighth Circuit covers North Dakota, South Dakota Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Arkansas
◾ The Ninth Circuit covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Montana, Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands
◾ The Tenth Circuit covers Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, and Oklahoma§ The Eleventh Circuit covers Alabama, Florida, Georgia and the U.S. Virgin Islands
◾ The Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
● The Medium of either the plaintiff’s work or the defendant’s work
o These include
◾ Advertisement
◾ Illustration
◾ Photograph
◾ Painting
◾ Sculpture
◾ Illustration
◾ Photograph
◾ Painting
◾ Sculpture
● Legal Issues addressed in the case: This means, what legal issues did the plaintiffs or defendants raise in pursuing their claim or advancing their defense. These include:
o Originality
Did the allegedly infringed work manifest a minimum of creativity to be protected by copyright?
Idea/Expression
◾ Copyright law does not protect ideas. Many of the cases address the line between a mere idea and a protected “expression” of the idea. “Expression” relates to the way in which the author communicates the idea, particularly in the details. For example, boy and girl from warring families fall in love, is an “idea.” Boy and girl from warring ethnic street gangs in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen fall in love, etc. (West Side Story) is protected expression.
o Copying at All
◾ Did the defendant in fact copy the plaintiff’s work? Or did the defendant independently generate the same or similar work without having encountered the plaintiff’s creation? For example, two people photograph the same scene from the same vantage point, but photographer #2 never saw photograph #1? If so, no infringement.
o Substantial Similarity
◾ Do the two works resemble each other in such a way that the ordinary observer would conclude that one was copied from the other?
o Fair Use
◾ Fair Use is a defense to infringement. Once the plaintiff has shown that the work is an original work of authorship, whose copyright she owns, and that the defendant copied the work, the defendant can endeavor to rebut a finding of infringement by showing that the four factors enumerated in the Copyright Act weigh in favor of the defendant’s use. These factors take into account, among other things, the extent to which the defendant’s use has “transformed” the plaintiff’s work by giving it a different meaning, and whether the defendant’s use substitutes for the sale or licensing of the plaintiff’s work. For more on Fair Use, see our Glossary.
Each case has a dedicated page, which we call a “Case Page,” which you can access by clicking on the case name.
On each Case Page you will find:
● The full name of the case
● The legal citation for the case
● Reproductions of the images or items at issue in the case or of the images directly at issue in the case
● A very brief overview of the case
● A more detailed summary of the case
● The entire decision published by the highest court which heard the case. Please note that we do not offer lower court decisions if a higher court reversed on appeal. If, however, the appeal merely affirmed the lower court’s decision with no analysis, we will note that, and will instead display the decision from the lower court.
● If applicable, we will include additional images that were in dispute in the case, or additional images of materials at issue in the case
● If applicable, we will provide links to related materials (such as articles, blogs or podcasts about the case)
● Links to the websites of the artists involved, where available
● The legal citation for the case
● Reproductions of the images or items at issue in the case or of the images directly at issue in the case
● A very brief overview of the case
● A more detailed summary of the case
● The entire decision published by the highest court which heard the case. Please note that we do not offer lower court decisions if a higher court reversed on appeal. If, however, the appeal merely affirmed the lower court’s decision with no analysis, we will note that, and will instead display the decision from the lower court.
● If applicable, we will include additional images that were in dispute in the case, or additional images of materials at issue in the case
● If applicable, we will provide links to related materials (such as articles, blogs or podcasts about the case)
● Links to the websites of the artists involved, where available
“Pairs Index” The Pairs Index shows the images at issue in each case on the site. Each set of images relates a different case. The pairs can be sorted into Decided cases or Settled cases. They can also be sorted by Legal Issue.
The Tables section allows users to search for cases in multiple ways. It provides a case’s name, citation, and a link to the appropriate Case Page. Here you can sort cases by name, medium of the contested works, legal issue at the heart of the complaint or by the artist(s) whose work either allegedly infringed or whose work was allegedly infringed.
“Resources” Here you will find a list of useful websites. The list includes, but is not limited to, nonprofit organizations which help artists with legal concerns about their work, artists’ rights groups, government entities, and even podcasts of interest.
“Glossary” A list of definitions of legal words found throughout the site.