Jessenia Colon's List: OAA-Legal Case Reply 2

• In what might have otherwise been a legitimate case of copyright infringement, Kernel Records–the plaintiff in Kernel Records Oy v. Timothy Mosley et al., had its case tossed out because of an evidentiary failure
• Section 411 of the Copyright Act is clear: absent special circumstances, a plaintiff must attain a copyright registration
• One of those special circumstances is when a work is not considered a U.S. work.
• he Copyright Act defines a U.S. work, which, for purposes here, includes those which are published first in the United States, or simultaneously in the United States and certain other territories
• But Kernel did not have a copyright registration for “Acidjazzed Evening.
• The District Court was persuaded by Timbaland and granted summary judgment in his favor.
• The Eleventh Circuit explained that the district court failed to consider subscription services, peer-to-peer networks, and other potential access restrictions to Vandalism News.
• “[B]ecause Kernel failed to apply for registration . . . and Kernel cannot demonstrate that Acidjazzed Evening is a foreign work exempt from registration, Kernel’s case is doomed,”
• Kernel had a choice: attain a copyright registration or demonstrate that the work was first published outside of the U.S.  Kernel did neither, and now will not get to prove its case on the merits

7 more annotations...