- Court: Intellectual Property Archives
- Area(s) of Law: Copyright
- Date Filed: 03-07-2013
- Case #: 1:11cv447-HSO-JNR
- Judge(s)/Court Below: Ozerden
- Full Text Opinion
Opinion (Ozerden): Marty Wilson created the painting titled âBlue Water Blitz.â New Palace Casino bought the original painting. While the facts concerning a purported licensing agreement were in dispute, Wilson claimed that the wahoo fish on New Palaceâs merchandise infringed his depiction of a wahoo fish in âBlue Water Blitzâ under the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA). However, Wilson admitted he used his wahoo fish in many other works, some in digital format on the Internet; and Wilson believed New Palace copied the digital image from the Internet. On these facts, the Court found that no âwork of visual artâ was copied, because the possible source images that could have been copied were excluded from the subcategory of âwork of visual art.â The Court added that had a âwork of visual artâ been copied, there still would not have been a violation because New Palaceâs alleged uses of the image âinvolved merchandising or qualified as advertising or promotional materials.â The Court DISMISSED Wilsonâs claims for attribution and integrity.