Copyright Developments

In July, we reported on the U.S. Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 959 F.3d 1194 (9^th Cir. 2020) (“Unicolors”) for the October 2021 term, docket no. 20-915.  Briefing was completed in mid-October (briefs can be found at www.scotusblog.com) and oral argument was held November 8 (recording available at www.c-span.org).  This column will describe some of the major issues the Court addressed in that argument, and will identify some questions that are likely to remain open no matter the outcome.   

Two recent decisions, one hailing from the Ninth Circuit and the other from the Southern District of New York, deal with the protectability of short phrases in musical compositions.