United States First Circuit

In a copyright action involving training materials geared toward teaching techniques for effective communication and negotiation within the workplace, district court's finding of noninfringement is vacated where: 1) district court erroneously excluded large portions of plaintiff's works from its substantial similarity analysis based upon its misapplication of the originality requirement; and 2) the court improperly denied copyright protection to large portions of plaintiff's works under the mistaken belief that they described a noncopyrightable process or system.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/19/2009
• Published 03/19/2009

Judges

• LYNCH, Chief Judge., Before LYNCH, Chief Judge, TORRUELLA and BOUDIN, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States First Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Evan Fray-Witzer and Law Office of Evan Fray-Witzer on brief for the Association of Learning Providers and Blanchard Training and Development, Inc., amici curiae.


• For Appellees:
  
• William F. Dolan with whom Jones Day, Ryan C. Siden, and Siden & Associates, P.C. were on brief for appellant/cross-appellee., James J. Foster with whom Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C. was on brief for appellee/cross-appellant.