Case; Copyrights/Scènes à Faire (9th Cir.)

The Federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a federal district court’s dismissal of a poet’s copyright infringement action against the Walt Disney Co. The Ninth Circuit found that shared elements of the poet’s “What’s On the Other Side of the Rainbow” book and Disney’s “Inside Out” movie are too general to be protectable for the purposes of the extrinsic test of substantial similarity: (1) a general theme that every feeling has a reason; (2) a journey through childhood emotions; and (3) a cloud-like character that talks and anthropomorphized emotion characters. The Ninth Circuit also found that the ...