Apple Escapes Suit Alleging Copyright Violation of Multiracial Emojis

Apple Inc. fended off a lawsuit alleging that it copied Cub Club Investment’s version of racially diverse emojis under a ruling by a federal judge of the Northern District of California released Wednesday.

District Judge Vince Chhabria found that Apple had, at most, only copied the idea of Cub Club’s multiracial emojis and not any element of the emojis that are protected under copyright. He said there is a “narrow range of expression” for the idea of diverse emojis, so Cub Club had only “thin” protection for its copyright.

“There aren’t many ways that someone could implement this idea,” Chhabria ...