Copyright Developments

The Copyright Act protects “original works of authorship.” 17 U.S.C. § 102(a) (emphasis added). Courts have uniformly understood “authorship” to refer to a quality that is uniquely “human,” often alluding to the nexus between the human mind and creative expression.  For example, some of the earliest copyright cases defined copyright as “the exclusive right of man to the production of his own genius or intellect.” Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony, 111 U.S. 53, 56 (1884). See also Trade-Mark Cases, 100 U.S 82, 94 (1879) (explaining that copyright law only protects “the fruits of intellectual labor” that are “founded in the creative powers of the mind”).

In dual lawsuits filed on February 7, 2022, the estates of Robin Williams and George Carlin accuse Pandora Media of willfully infringing the legendary comedians’ registered copyrights in their “spoken word compositions” – their standup routines – by streaming the sound recordings that embody those routines without a license for the spoken word works.  Robin Williams Trust v. Pandora Media, LLC, No. 22-cv-815 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2022); Main Sequence, Ltd. v. Pandora Media, LLC, No. 22-cv-810 (C.D. Cal. Feb. 7, 2022).