WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law Brief: Whitney on Copyright Case (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Well, now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief,

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<v Speaker 1>exploring legal issues in the news, and Today, Bloomberg Law

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<v Speaker 1>host dun Grasso discusses the Supreme Court decision in Star

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<v Speaker 1>Athletic of the Varsity Brands, which will have major ramifications

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<v Speaker 1>for copyright law in America. She speaks with Craig Whitney,

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<v Speaker 1>a partner at Frankfurt Curnet, Klein and Seltz Craig. The

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<v Speaker 1>majority opinion was written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Explain his reasoning,

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<v Speaker 1>please sure, Well, they took a large part from the

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<v Speaker 1>Copyright Act directly and adhered closely to the language of

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<v Speaker 1>the Act, which was actually fairly admirable, and ruled that

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<v Speaker 1>the designs on the cheerleading uniforms that issue were protectable

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<v Speaker 1>under the Copyright Act because the Copyright Act protects pgs works,

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<v Speaker 1>pictorial graphics cultural works that are part of useful articles

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<v Speaker 1>if they can be separately identified independent of those useful

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<v Speaker 1>articles and are independently eligible for protection. So that was

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<v Speaker 1>that was his stated reasoning. Uh, And that is how

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<v Speaker 1>in this case the designs that issue are at least

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<v Speaker 1>eligible for copyright protection. So Justice Stephen Brier was joined

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<v Speaker 1>by Justice Anthony Kennedy, and he couldn't seem to get

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<v Speaker 1>past the fact that Varsity registered pictures of uniforms, not

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<v Speaker 1>the designs on them. Tell us a little bit about

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<v Speaker 1>his dissent. I think he was concerned with the potential

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<v Speaker 1>breath of the majority's decision. The majority held as I

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned that these designs were eligible for protection, and Justice

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<v Speaker 1>Briars looked at the underlying copper registrations, which are pictures

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<v Speaker 1>of designs on cheerleading uniforms, and thought, well, then, really,

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<v Speaker 1>anything could in theory be eligible for protection if you

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<v Speaker 1>just take a picture of it and registered the copyright office.

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<v Speaker 1>How important is this decision to the fashion industry. I

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<v Speaker 1>think it's pretty important for two reasons. Um. The main

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<v Speaker 1>reason is that I think there was a perception in

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<v Speaker 1>the industry that there was limited protection for fashion designs.

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<v Speaker 1>And I don't know that that was an accurate perception

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<v Speaker 1>or not, but I think it was a prevailing view

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<v Speaker 1>of a lot of designers and a lot of companies

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<v Speaker 1>that operate on the basis of being able to take

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<v Speaker 1>other designs and repackage them. That's Craig Waitney, a partner

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<v Speaker 1>at Frankfurt Current in Klein and self speaking at the

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Law host during Grosso. You can listen to Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>Law weekdays at one pm Wall Street Time here on

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Radio Now. Among top legal stories from Bloomberg Law,

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<v Speaker 1>Federal Appeals Court will now decide whether to overturn a

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<v Speaker 1>lower court's order partially blocking President Trump's revised travel ban.

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<v Speaker 1>Government lawyers argued the executive order affecting six mostly Muslim

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<v Speaker 1>nations is not religious discrimination because it applies to all

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<v Speaker 1>citizens from those countries. They also said that every president

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<v Speaker 1>for thirty years has invoked executive powers to suspend the

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<v Speaker 1>inference of some immigrants on national security grounds. And this

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<v Speaker 1>morning's Bloomberg Law Brief. You can find more legal news

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