June/July 2023 Decisions in Brief

• Date: 01 June 2023
• Author: John C. Gatz

June 27, 2023DE CIS ION S IN BRI EF

June/July 2023 Decisions in Brief

John C. Gatz

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©2023. Published in Landslide, Vol. 15, No. 4, June/July 2023, by the American

Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This

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Copyrights

Ninth Circuit Affirmed Validity of Unicolors’ Registration

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Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 52 F.4th 1054, 2022 U.S.P.Q.2d

1076 (9th Cir. 2022). This case was on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court

decision in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., 142 S. Ct. 941 (2022),

where the Court held that a lack of legal or factual knowledge of an error in a

copyright registration is excusable under the Copyright Act’s safe harbor

provision, 17 U. S.C. § 411(b). On remand, the Ninth Circuit reviewed whether

Unicolors’ copyright registration was valid. The Ninth Circuit determined that

the registration was valid because the factual inaccuracies therein were

excused under the Copyright Act, given the Supreme Court’s recent decision.

Thus, the Ninth Circuit armed the district court’s earlier judgment against

H&M nding that Unicolors had a valid copyright registration and that H&M

infringed the registration.

The threshold issue on appeal was whether Unicolors’ copyright registration

was valid. This question was important because registration is a prerequisite to

bringing a federal claim for copyright infringement. Section 411(b)(1) provides a