Lenz v. Universal Music Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
815 F.3d 1145 (2018)
Relevant factsFree
A Universal (defendant) legal assistant reviewed Stephanie Lenz's (plaintiff) video daily as part of routine review, concluded it focused on the Prince song, and Universal issued a takedown notice; both parties moved for summary judgment, and the district court denied both motions, finding a triable issue on Universal's subjective good faith and allowing Lenz to proceed on a willful-blindness theory requiring only proof that Universal deliberately ignored the fair-use question.
IssueFree
Whether copyright holders must first consider whether potentially infringing material is a fair use before issuing a takedown notice.