Tuesday, April 12, 2016

BREAKING: Dismissal Granted in California Resale Royalty Case (UPDATED 3X)

I'll post a link when I have one, but the District Court in California has granted the defendants' motion to dismiss (what's left of) the California Resale Royalty lawsuit on the grounds that the state statute is preempted by the first sale doctrine under the federal Copyright Act.  The court (affirmed by the Ninth Circuit) had previously ruled that the statute could not reach sales that took place outside of California.  This decision now throws out the whole statute -- even for sales within California.  Back up to the Ninth Circuit we go.

UPDATE:  News story here.

UPDATE 2:  Here is the Los Angeles Business Journal.

UPDATE 3:  Here's the decision.