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ARTICLE · 09 FEBRUARY 2016

Website HTML Is Copyrightable, Even If Look And Feel Is Not

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In a notable ruling last month, a California district court ruled that the HTML underlying a custom search results page of an online advertising creation platform is copyrightable.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Jeffrey Neuburger
Jeffrey Neuburger
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In a notable ruling last month, a California district court ruled that the HTML underlying a custom search results page of an online advertising creation platform is copyrightable.

In Media.net Advertising FZ-LLC v. Netseer Inc., No. 14-3883, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3784 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 12, 2016), the plaintiff, an online contextual-advertising service provider, brought copyright infringement claims against a competitor for allegedly copying the HTML from a custom-created search results page, for the purpose of creating its own custom online advertising offering. Plaintiff argued that its copyright claim is supported by the guidance published in the revised edition of the Compendium of U.S. Copyright Office Practices (Third Edition) (Dec. 2014) ("Compendium").

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