The Ninth Circuit Narrowly Applies the Copyright Authorship Requirement to Films to Resolve Politically Charged Innocence of Muslims Lawsuit

摘要

The en banc panel's opinion reaffirms the pragmatic approach in Aalmuhammed that values the ability to collaborate on large-scale creative projects without facing undue legal hurdles over giving a separate copyright interest to those with relatively minor contributions to the collaboration. However, as Judge Kozinski's dissent highlights, where the line will be drawn between a minor contribution and a contribution significant enough to merit copyright protection remains unsettled and will likely be the basis of significant litigation to come.