Elsevier Wins Summary Judgment Over Use Of 3-D Medical Animations In Copyright Case

Although this blog typically focuses on legal developments in marketing and false advertising, its authors and editors are of course active legal practitioners in related areas of IP and other creative industries. Proskauer recently received a favorable summary judgment decision for the defendant, its client Elsevier, Inc., a leading publisher in the fields of science, health and nursing, in a copyright infringement case involving 500+ 3-D medical animations, in which plaintiff sought over $80 million dollars in statutory damages. Archie MD, Inc. v. Elsevier, Inc., No. 16-cv-6614 (JSR), 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37141 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 13, 2017).

From 2005 to 2015, Plaintiff Archie MD, Inc. licensed a catalog of 3-D medical animations to Elsevier for use in Elsevier's online learning management system, known as Evolve. As a free supplement to its nursing textbooks, Elsevier provides its customers access to digital content through Evolve. Each textbook has a companion