Corporate Kaijus Clash: 15 Famous Cases of Copyright Infringement & Litigation

What is Copyright Infringement

Infringement of copyright occurs when an individual unlawfully violates the exclusive rights bestowed upon a copyright proprietor without their authorization. When such a violation occurs, it often leads to copyright litigation—the legal process of resolving the dispute in court. The following high-profile cases are prime examples of the complex legal battles that can arise from claims of copyright infringement, showcasing the intricacies of the litigation process. These exclusive rights entail the freedom to duplicate, circulate, execute, showcase, and engender derivative works from a unique work of authorship.

What Does Copyright Litigation Involve?

Copyright litigation is the formal legal process initiated when a copyright holder sues another party for infringement. While each case is unique, the litigation process generally follows several key stages:

• Cease and Desist Letter: The copyright owner often sends a formal letter demanding the infringer stop using the copyrighted material.
• Filing a Lawsuit: If the infringer does not comply, the owner can file a lawsuit in federal court.
• Discovery: Both parties gather evidence, which can include documents, depositions, and interrogatories.
• Settlement or Trial: Many cases are settled out of court. If not, the case proceeds to trial, where a judge or jury will decide the outcome.
• Remedies: If the court finds in favor of the copyright holder, it may order remedies such as monetary damages and injunctions.

Ideas are a nebulous concept, and legally protecting something intangible can result in an interesting chain of events, especially when big names and corporations are thrown into the mix. We'll delve into some historic courtroom battles over alleged copyright violations and look at some of the most high-profile cases ever brought by well-known plaintiffs.

Here are the 15 most famous instances of copyright infringement:

1. The Tattoo Copyright Lawsuit: Whitmill vs Warner Brothers

Despite Hangover 2's success, its publisher, Warner Brothers, was sued by tattoo artist S. Victor Whitmill for using Whitmill's uncredited tattoo design without permission in the film and its promotional materials.

Despite Warner Brothers' claims that their use of the design was protected by the "fair use" policy, Whitmill pursued the case and sought a preliminary injunction that would have prevented the film from hitting theaters on schedule.

While the judge did rule against Whitmill's injunction request, he did agree that Whitmill still had a solid case and could pursue the lawsuit on other grounds.

An agreement was reached behind closed doors, and the film was released on schedule, thereby creating comedic history.

2.  Music Copyright Litigation: Katy Perry vs Marcus Gray

Copyright infringement and the music industry go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it stands to reason that this sector accounts for the lion's share of high-profile cases.

Dark Horse, Katy Perry's 2013 smash single, was one of the year's biggest hits. Earning recognition for achievements like selling over 13 million copies worldwide, attracting billions of Youtube views, having the song performed live during the Super Bowl, and winning MTV's music awards for best female video music in 2014.

In spite of this, Marcus Gray, a rapper, sued Perry the same year, claiming that she had stolen the riff and beat from his song "Joyful Noise''. Legal representation for Katy Perry argued that Gray's statement is preposterous and that he is trying to hold "the basic blocks of music," which could harm all composers.

Damages for Gray's case were estimated at $2.78 million and were awarded to him by the court in 2019. The judge would overturn the initial decision, however, in 2020 after an appeal was submitted, claiming that there was simply insufficient evidence to support the case.

3. A Landmark Digital Copyright Case: The Music Industry vs Napster

A young technical genius named Shawn Fanning developed a piece of software called Napster in 1999 when the internet was still in its infancy. It is a peer-to-peer file-sharing application that allows users to freely share and download music.

Suffice it to say, Napster caught the attention of the music Industry. Metallica's drummer Lars Ulrich filed a lawsuit against the developer of the software in 2000, alleging copyright infringement, unauthorized use of a digital audio interface device, and racketeering.

This is believed to be the first case in which a well-known artist has directly sued a peer-to-peer file-sharing software company. This caused a domino effect in which major record labels like A&M and others began suing Napster. The plaintiffs accused the software company of vicarious copyright infringement and were eventually found guilty in 2002.

To the public's chagrin, Napster was forced to close that year, apologized publicly, and paid up to $26 million in damages.

This incident served as the catalyst for some people's animosity toward Metallica.

4. The Music Sampling Copyright Dispute: Vanilla Ice vs David Bowie & Queen

As the first hip-hop single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" left an indelible mark on popular culture. However, one of its worst qualities is that it sampled the bass lines from Under Pressure, a hit song by Queen and David Bowie.

Vanilla Ice tried to defend himself from the lawsuit brought against him by Queen and David Bowie for the unauthorized use of their song by claiming that he had added a single note to the end of the riff to make it more unique, but this was deemed insufficient.

The case was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money, with both Queen and Bowie receiving songwriting credit.

5. Tech's Foundational Copyright Litigation: Apple vs Microsoft

There was once a time when the two tech giants squared off in court.

Apple filed a lawsuit against Microsoft in 1988, shortly after the release of Windows 2.0, a significant upgrade to the original version. At the time, Apple accused Microsoft of plagiarizing the graphical user interface found on the Macintosh system without permission or a license.

This is where the case becomes interesting, as Apple did in fact grant Microsoft permission to use Macintosh's design elements in Windows. The mystery surrounding this part is that, for some reason, Apple's legal department did not receive the memo, after the release of Windows 2.0,

Apple was so taken aback by the suddenness of the legal proceedings that it skipped sending any sort of preemptive warning or threat.

As a result of this misunderstanding, the court ruled in favor of Microsoft in 1989, and although Apple attempted to appeal the decision multiple times, all of its efforts were unsuccessful.

6. Fashion Copyright Infringement Case: Gucci vs Guess

In 2009, two of the fashion industry's most recognizable names squared off when Gucci sued Guess, alleging that the latter had violated several of Gucci's trademarks. Gucci had originally asked for $221 million in damages but settled for $4.1 million.

So why did that happen? The judge reasoned that Gucci's claim that it has repeatedly sent cease-and-desist letters to various parties over the years was a fatal flaw in the company's case.

These entities ranged from national corporations to small-time counterfeiters and infringers. With budgetary concerns and the fact that most of their evidence was speculative, Gucci's defense department has been stretched thin.

7. Trademark & Copyright Litigation: Starbucks vs Obsidian Group

Starbucks sued rival coffee chain Obsidian Group in 2016 for promoting its newest drink, the Freddoccino. Starbucks claimed that the name's similarity violates the copyright of their own popular iced coffee, the Frappuccino.

Despite Obsidian's efforts to assuage concerns by renaming their drink "the Freddo," Starbucks remained steadfast in their pursuit of the case, and the case has yet to be resolved as of mid-late 2022.

8. A Hollywood Copyright Lawsuit: Art Buchwald vs Paramount Studios

In 1990, writer and comedian Art Buchwald sued Paramount, claiming that the studio stole his ideas from an abandoned project and turned them into the film's screenplay.

According to Paramount's defense, at the time, they paid their authors through the "Hollywood account," which means the screenwriters are paid based on how much profit the film made.

They stood firm in their claim that, despite gross revenue of $288 million dollars, the film produced no net profit, and thus they were not required to pay Buchwald. If this statement struck you as perplexing, the judge felt the same way.

He called Paramount's payment method "blatantly unethical and unconscionable" and ruled in Buchwald's favor, awarding him 900,000 dollars in damages.

9. Sci-Fi Copyright Infringement Dispute: Star Wars vs Battlestar Galactica

For science fiction fans, 1977 was an interesting year. Twentieth Century Fox sued Universal Studios for infringement the same year that A New Hope was released and defined a generation.

Fox asserted that Battlestar Galactica, a science fiction series produced by Universal, was "too similar" to one of their flagship intellectual properties.

Universal Studio did not take this lightly and filed a lawsuit of its own, claiming that Star Wars stole ideas from older media, such as the 1972 film Silent Running.

Two years later, the case was resolved in favor of Battlestar Galactica. The franchise as a whole was not doing so well at the time, despite the positive publicity surrounding the movie. The original show had been canceled, and fans were flocking to see The Empire Strikes Back.

10. The Smartphone Copyright Litigation: Apple vs Google

In 2010, as smartphones became increasingly important in our daily lives, Apple and Samsung went to court over Samsung's alleged violations of Apple's patents on several of its smartphone designs. Apple's main competitor was not Samsung per se, but rather the Android operating system developed by Google and used by Samsung and other manufacturers.

Partially because of a "Mobile Application Distribution Agreement," Google's legal team had to intervene to help Samsung.

Concurrently, Motorola filed one of the most publicized lawsuits in technology history, accusing Apple of intellectual property infringement. Motorola claimed that Apple violated their patents on 3G phone technology and other aspects of smartphone design, while Apple fired back by claiming that Motorola had infringed on their patents on a number of features.

The court was so frustrated by the fight that the judges threw out the case three times in 2012, on the grounds that neither party had enough implicated evidence and were told to settle out of court. 2012 was the year that Google bought Motorola.

Although Apple has never directly attacked Google, they appear to focus on third-party companies that sell Google's software products; nonetheless, Google appears to be adamant in defending its popular mobile software.