Top 10 Copyright Cases for the Month of November 2010

1. Hudson Ins. Co. v. Colony Ins. Co., No. 09-55275, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 23033, April 5, 2010, Argued and Submitted, Pasadena, California, November 5, 2010, Filed

OVERVIEW: A coinsurer was properly awarded equitable contribution from a coinsurer for its costs incurred in defending an insured because the underlying lawsuit potentially stated a cause of action for slogan infringement, which was covered by the insurance policy, and thus, there was a duty to defend the insured in the underlying action.

CORE TERMS: slogan, infringement, authentic, duty to defend, causes of action, insured, curtain, steel, coverage, insurer ...

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2. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., No. 08-56667, No. 08-56906, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 22910, February 2, 2010, Argued and Submitted, Pasadena, California, November 3, 2010, Filed

OVERVIEW: Because the author clearly demonstrated the "good cause" required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 6, and because there was no reason to believe that the author was acting in bad faith or was misrepresenting his reasons for asking for the extension, the district court abused its discretion in denying the author's timely motion for an extension.

CORE TERMS: deadline, summary judgment, extension of time, local rule, excusable neglect, good cause, abused, defense counsel, calendaring, weekend ...

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3. Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., No. 08-56667, No. 08-56906, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 22883, February 2, 2010, Argued and Submitted, Pasadena, California, November 3, 2010, Filed, PLEASE REFER TO FEDERAL RULES OF APPELLATE PROCEDURE RULE 32.1 GOVERNING THE CITATION TO UNPUBLISHED OPINIONS., Decision reached on appeal by, Remanded by Ahanchian v. Xenon Pictures, Inc., 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 22910 (9th Cir. Cal., Nov. 3, 2010)

OVERVIEW: As a collection of independent skits, a movie was a collective work under 17 U.S.C.S. § 101, with distinct copyrights for each skit under 17 U.S.C.S. § 201(c), and since an author testified producers stated only yes, no, or go back to it when he read them his skits, joint authorship was not shown; summary judgment to the producers was reversed.

CORE TERMS: skit, summary judgment, movie, contract claim, copyright infringement, joint authorship, certificate, disputed, attorneys' fees, genuine issues of material fact ...

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4. Software Freedom Conservancy, Inc. v. Best Buy Co., 09 Civ. 10155 (SAS), UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125426, November 29, 2010, Decided, November 29, 2010, Filed

CORE TERMS: successors in interest, merger, dollars, asset sale, de facto, continuation, successor, benefit of creditors, infringing, electronics ...

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