L.A. Printex Industries, Inc. v. Aeropostale, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
676 F.3d 841 (2012)
Printex (plaintiff) sold over 50,000 yards of its copyrighted floral fabric print, featuring two three-flower bouquets flanking a three-leaf branch with one bouquet's largest flower in profile and the other's facing front, to Los Angeles-area clothing manufacturers; Aeropostale (defendant) sold shirts, sourced from Ms. Bubbles (defendant), with a similar floral arrangement though differing spacing, color, and background. The district court granted Aeropostale summary judgment, finding no genuine dispute on access or substantial similarity, and Printex appealed.
Whether, absent evidence of direct copying, a court may find copyright infringement if a plaintiff proves that the defendant had access to the copyrighted work and that the defendant's work is substantially similar to it.