United States Ninth Circuit

Summary judgment and award of attorneys' fees in favor of the defendant in an action under the Copyright Act is affirmed, where: 1) the shape of a hookah water container is not entitled to copyright protection; 2) the container, a useful article, was not copyrightable because it did not incorporate sculptural features that could be identified separately from, and were capable of existing independently of, the container's utilitarian aspects; 3) whether an item's shape is distinctive does not affect conceptual separability; and 4) the district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorneys’ fees to the defendant under 17 U.S.C. section 505. (Amended opinion)

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/03/2014
• Published 06/03/2014

Judges

• O’SCANNLAIN

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel