U.S. Supreme Court To Clarify Role of Copyright Office in Litigation
In this edition of their Copyright Law column, Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein discuss 'Unicolors v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz', in which the Supreme Court will address whether the Ninth Circuit erred in holding "that 17 U.S.C. §411 requires referral to the Copyright Office where there is no indicia of fraud or material error as to the work at issue in the subject copyright registration?" An affirmance could make the Copyright Office a more significant player in copyright infringement litigation, by requiring the Register to weigh in more often on the validity of registrations.
July 21, 2021 at 12:50 PM
7 minute read
On June 1, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Unicolors v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 959 F.3d 1194 (9th Cir. 2020) (Unicolors), to address the following question: "Did the Ninth Circuit err in breaking with its own prior precedent and the findings of other circuits and the Copyright Office in holding that 17 U.S.C. §411 requires referral to the Copyright Office where there is no indicia of fraud or material error as to the work at issue in the subject copyright registration?" The issue appears to be a pure question of statutory interpretation, with the language of §411 pointing in one direction but the views of other courts and the Copyright Office arguably pointing the other way. An affirmance of the Ninth Circuit ruling could make the Copyright Office a more significant player in copyright infringement litigation, by requiring the Register to weigh in more often on the validity of registrations.
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