Satava v. Lowry

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that plaintiff’s “selection of the clear glass, oblong shroud, bright colors, proportion, vertical orientation, and stereotyped jellyfish form [for his sculptures], considered together, lack[ed] the quantum of originality needed”
• recognizing that an artist “may, however, protect the original expression he or she contributes to these ideas” including “the pose, attitude, gesture, muscle structure, facial expression, coat, or texture of [the] animal . . . and the background, lighting, or perspective”
• explaining that the original “pose, attitude, gesture, muscle structure, facial expression, coat, or texture of [an] animal” may be protectable
• holding similarity of six different elements \lacks the quantum of originality needed to merit copyright protection.\
• observing that scope of copyright protection for realistic depiction of live animal was narrow and noting that “[t]hese ideas, first expressed by nature, are the common heritage of humankind, and no artist may use copyright law to prevent others from depicting them”
• glass-in-glass jellyfish sculpture only entitled to thin protection against virtually identical copying due to the narrow range of expression

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

38 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

• Warsoldier v. Woodford
  Ninth Circuit· 2005-07-29· cited 197×
• L.A. Printex Industries, Inc. v. Aeropostale, Inc.
  Ninth Circuit· 2012-04-09· cited 101×
• Coquico, Inc. v. Rodriguez-Miranda
  First Circuit· 2009-04-06· cited 91×
• Jacobus Rentmeester v. Nike, Inc.
  Ninth Circuit· 2018-02-27· cited 87×
• Design Basics, LLC v. Lexington Homes, Inc.
  Seventh Circuit· 2017-06-06· cited 76×
• Satava v. Lowry
  Ninth Circuit· 2003-03-20· cited 58×
• Swirsky v. Carey
  Ninth Circuit· 2004-08-24· cited 49×
• Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries v. Glover
  Ninth Circuit· 2007-03-09· cited 47×
• Diane M. Hendricks Kenneth A. Hendricks v. Bank of America, N.A., and Mutual Indemnity (Bermuda), Ltd., a Bermuda Corporation
  Ninth Circuit· 2005-05-24· cited 39×
• Pieter Folkens v. Wyland Worldwide
  Ninth Circuit· 2018-02-13· cited 34×
• William Darden v. Marybeth Peters, Register of Copyrights
  Fourth Circuit· 2007-05-24· cited 21×
• Batiste v. Najm
  E.D. Louisiana· 2014-06-25· cited 15×
• Erickson v. Blake
  D. Oregon· 2012-03-14· cited 13×
• Pharrell Williams v. Frankie Gaye
  Ninth Circuit· 2018-03-21· cited 10×
• Faith Center Church Evangelistic Ministries v. Glover
  Ninth Circuit· 2006-09-20· cited 9×
• Wilson v. Brennan
  D. New Mexico· 2009-08-18· cited 7×
• Lucky Break Wishbone Corp. v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.
  W.D. Washington· 2007-12-04· cited 5×
• Real View, LLC. v. 20-20 Technologies, Inc.
  D. Massachusetts· 2010-02-11· cited 4×
• Wengerd v. E. Wayne Fire Dist.
  Ohio Court of Claims· 2017-11-08· cited 4×
• Morrill v. Stefani
  C.D. California· 2018-10-02· cited 4×

Cites

14 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

• Feist Publications, Inc. v. Rural Telephone Service Co.
  Supreme Court· 1991-03-27· cited 2,678×
• TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC CORP. Et Al. v. AIKEN
  Supreme Court· 1975-06-17· cited 233×
• Three Boys Music Corp. v. Bolton
  Ninth Circuit· 2000-05-09· cited 194×
• Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.
  Ninth Circuit· 1994-09-19· cited 177×
• John William See v. Christopher Durang and L.A. Stage Company
  Ninth Circuit· 1983-07-22· cited 164×
• Herbert Rosenthal Jewelry Corp. v. Edward and Lucy Kalpakian, Etc.
  Ninth Circuit· 1971-07-07· cited 134×
• Ets-Hokin v. Skyy Spirits, Inc.
  Ninth Circuit· 2000-08-18· cited 110×
• Roth Greeting Cards v. United Card Company, an Illinois Corporation
  Ninth Circuit· 1970-07-10· cited 103×
• Shelley Aliotti and John Aliotti v. R. Dakin & Co., a California Corporation
  Ninth Circuit· 1987-11-04· cited 69×
• United States v. Peninsula Communications, Inc.
  Ninth Circuit· 2002-04-22· cited 67×
• CDN INC., a California Corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Kenneth A. KAPES, an Individual D/B/A Western Reserve Numismatics, Defendant-Appellant
  Ninth Circuit· 1999-12-02· cited 55×
• Ets-Hokin v. Skyy Spirits Inc.
  Ninth Circuit· 2003-03-14· cited 49×
• United States v. Edward Sylvester Hamilton
  Ninth Circuit· 1978-10-05· cited 40×
• Kamar International, Inc. v. Russ Berrie And Co.
  Ninth Circuit· 1981-09-28· cited 33×

Other cases named Satava v. Lowry

4 other CourtListener records share this case name.

• Satava v. Lowry
  Ninth Circuit· 2003-03-20· cited 58×
• Satava v. Lowry
  Supreme Court· 2003-11-03
• Satava v. Lowry
  Supreme Court· 2003-11-03
• Satava v. Lowry
  Supreme Court· 2003-11-03