- Court: Intellectual Property Archives
- Area(s) of Law: Copyright
- Date Filed: 03-07-2013
- Case #: 1:11cv447-HSO-JNR
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Ozerden
Opinion (Ozerden): Marty Wilson created the painting titled 芒Blue Water Blitz.芒 New Palace Casino bought the original painting. While the facts concerning a purported licensing agreement were in dispute, Wilson claimed that the wahoo fish on New Palace芒s merchandise infringed his depiction of a wahoo fish in 芒Blue Water Blitz芒 under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA). However, Wilson admitted he used his wahoo fish in many other works, some in digital format on the Internet; and Wilson believed New Palace copied the digital image from the Internet. On these facts, the Court found that no 芒work of visual art芒 was copied, because the possible source images that could have been copied were excluded from the subcategory of 芒work of visual art.芒 The Court added that had a 芒work of visual art芒 been copied, there still would not have been a violation because New Palace芒s alleged uses of the image 芒involved merchandising or qualified as advertising or promotional materials.芒 The Court DISMISSED Wilson芒s claims for attribution and integrity.