U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
The Eleventh Circuit reversed summary judgment for a rival cheerleading event organizer, holding that genuine fact issues exist about whether USASF’s “THE CHEERLEADING WORLDS” and “WORLDS” marks are descriptive with acquired secondary meaning rather than generic.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed a jury verdict, holding that 2 Live Crew member Mark Ross’s copyright termination interests were swept into his bankruptcy estate and remained there because they were never scheduled or administered — leaving the group one vote short of the statutory majority needed to reclaim their album copyrights.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated summary judgment against Trunk Archive, holding that a photographer’s retention of narrow collaboration rights does not negate the exclusivity of a licensing agency’s rights under the Copyright Act.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed dismissal and held that cease-and-desist letters sent on false claims of trademark ownership can establish personal jurisdiction under both the effects test and minimum contacts analysis.
The Eleventh Circuit upheld DISH Network’s copyright infringement victory and $600,000 damages award against a Florida businessman who operated an unauthorized service retransmitting Arabic-language television channels.