Boisson v. Banian, Ltd.

Judi Boisson (plaintiff) designed alphabet quilts, School Days I and II, arranging capital letters in five rows (grouped A-E, F-J, K-O, P-T, U-Y, Z) with pictures, in varied fabrics. Banian, Ltd. (defendant) imported alphabet quilts from India-ABC Green Version I and II and ABC Navy-using similar block and stitching layouts. The coloring and contrast on 20 letters and the row grouping in the ABC Green versions closely matched School Days I, and ABC Green Version II added a teddy bear in a single-starred flag vest. Boisson sued for copyright infringement; after a bench trial the district court found no substantial similarity, applying the more discerning test but analyzing elements individually rather than their arrangement. Boisson appealed.

Whether the substantial-similarity test for copyright infringement requires a more discerning analysis where portions of the original work are drawn from the public domain.