Culver City, CA – Stephen M. Doniger, partner at Doniger / Burroughs APC, argued to a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that a lower Court had erred when dismissing the case of his fashion industry client on the basis of a putative error in the client’s copyright registration. The 9th Circuit was persuaded by Mr. Doniger’s copyright law arguments, and has now fully reversed the lower Court, handing Mr. Doniger and his client a huge win at the Court of Appeals.

Legal news website Law360 reports on the Doniger / Burroughs appellate victory here:

http://www.law360.com/ip/articles/299964?nl_pk=a1e4b90c-8f4a-4649-bcb5-781ca89a2fd9&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ip

Los Angeles, CA – Star Fabrics, Inc. discovered that a fashion industry competitor, Morex Enterprises, Inc., was selling fabric bearing one of Star’s propriety and copyrighted textile designs. Doniger / Burroughs attorneys Stephen Doniger and Scott Burroughs brought a copyright claim on behalf of Star Fabrics in United States Federal Court. After more than a year of litigation, two fruitless mediations, and substantial motion practice – including a rejected summary judgment motion filed by the defense, and a successful summary adjudication motion on liability filed by Doniger / Burroughs – trial was set to commence on November 8, 2011 before the Honorable Dean D. Pregerson.

As the parties and attorneys gathered in the courtroom, awaiting the judge’s taking of the bench to initiate the proceedings, the defendants and their attorneys had a change of heart. After spending more than a year refusing to participate in good faith settlement talks, and repeating woefully frivolous and misguided legal arguments, defendants and their counsel admitted defeat. Perhaps in light of the poor position they found themselves in due to the legal strategy they employed during the litigation, defendants agreed to tender to Star Fabrics 1.1 million dollars in order to avoid having the jury hear the arguments presented by Star Fabrics and Doniger / Burroughs.

Defendants had previously offered only a fraction of that amount.

Following this spectacular collapse by the defense, Stephen Doniger remarked: “Despite all of their posturing and legal bluster, Morex and its attorneys realized that they would be hurt far worse if the jury was allowed to hear the case and render a verdict.”

Star Fabrics was represented by Stephen Doniger and Scott Burroughs of Doniger / Burroughs APC.

Morex Enterprises was represented by Scott Shaw and Delavan Dickson of Call & Jensen APC.

For more information in regard to the above, please contact Ann Grozman at (310) 590-1820.

Culver City, CA – Doniger / Burroughs has been retained by photographer Peter Benke to prosecute sweeping claims of copyright infringement against The Andaz Hotel, its advertising agents, Departure Agency and Digiteria, and others.

Peter Benke is an accomplished and in-demand photographer who has exhibited his work in galleries across the southland. A sampling of his innovative work is available here:  http://www.peterbenkephoto.com/

Mr. Benke’s claims arise from an advertising campaign he shot for the Ivy Hotel. The complaint alleges that he granted a limited license to the Departure Agency to use certain of the photographs he took in connection with that campaign, and Departure Agency breached that license by failing to tender the consideration due under the agreement, and making use of the photographs in a way that went well beyond the substantive and temporal scope of the license. The complaint alleges that the unauthorized use of Mr. Benke’s photographs constitutes copyright infringement. One such allegedly infringing use was the display by The Andaz Hotel of the photographs in its web marketing without right or authorization.

The defendants deny liability, and deny that the allegedly unauthorized use of the photographs at issue has damaged Mr. Benke.

The case is currently pending before the Honorable Valerie B. Fairbank in United States District Court in Los Angeles, and has been set for a jury trial on September 18, 2012.

For further information regarding this case, contact Scott A. Burroughs at (310) 590-1820 or scott@donigerlawfirm.com

The reportage can be found here (subscription req’d): http://www.law360.com/articles/273735/target-clothing-infringed-fabric-maker-s-design-judge