This week, the Court considers the fair use defense to copyright
infringement and addresses the proper venue for petitions to
enforce arbitral summonses.
McGUCKEN v. PUB OCEAN
LIMITED
The Court rejects a fair use defense to copyright infringement
for the reproduction of photographs in an online article.
The Panel: Judges Ikuta, Nguyen, and Owens,
with Judge Nguyen writing the opinion.
Key highlight: "Practically speaking, it
is hard to imagine what would not be a fair use, or what could not
be readily turned into a fair use, under Pub Ocean's theory.
Any copyrighted work, when placed in a compilation that expands its
context, would be a fair use. Any song would become a fair use when
part of a playlist. Any book a fair use if published in a
collection of an author's complete works. It would make little
sense to treat this kind of 'recontextualizing' or
'repackaging' of one work into another as
transformative."
