Defining Copyright Fair Use: Recent Key Decisions and Looking Forward

Defining the boundaries of the fair use defense has long been a challenge in copyright litigation. The Supreme Court is now set to take on its second case on the doctrine in two years in in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith. In this presentation, our panelists will delve into the current landscape of fair use law and how that law may develop in the near future.

The discussion will include:

• A fair use primer and recent appellate decisions on fair use
• Oracle v. Google and its impact inside and outside the software industry
• Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith and “transformative use”
• International developments in litigation involving pastiche and parody

The session will be presented by experienced MoFo litigators who have been involved in a myriad of landmark, precedent-setting copyright cases in both traditional and new media.

• Michael Jacobs (Partner, San Francisco). Michael’s work on several landmark copyright cases, including Paul McCartney v. Sony Music, On Command Video, SCO v. Novell, Vernor v. Autodesk, and Oracle v. Google, has helped shape the laws governing emerging technologies. He routinely speaks on cutting-edge intellectual property issues and represents the world’s leading innovators.
• Paul Goldstein (Of Counsel, San Francisco). Paul is the Lillick Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and nationally-renowned in the area of copyright law. His widely-consulted five-volume treatise, Goldstein on Copyright, is updated semi-annually. He is also the co-author of the treatise International Copyright: Principles, Law and Practice (4th ed. 2019).
• Roman Swoopes (Partner, Palo Alto). Roman has significant experience litigating complex copyright disputes, including Oracle v. Google and Paul McCartney v. Sony Music. Roman has a computer science background and considerable experience in the area of copyrightable subject matter for software. He also represents clients in disputes involving open source software licenses.
• Rose Lee (Associate, Los Angeles). Rose counsels clients on a broad range of complex disputes, including copyright matters. She has litigated a wide range of technology cases for U.S. and global clients, including matters involving computer software, video encoding, underwater imaging, electrostatic digital printing, and others.

View the on-demand replay, which will be available through December 15th, 2023.