Court Finds Computer Program to Be a Work-for-Hire

In a February 3, 2016 ruling, Judge Colleen McMahon declined to dismiss the plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim, finding that the defendant’s computing programming services under a written agreement constituted a “work-for-hire” under the Copyright Act. Judge McMahon found that the defendant’s work was specially commissioned pursuant to a written agreement designating the work as a “work-for-hire.” On the issue of whether the work fit into one of the nine statutory categories for which the work-for-hire doctrine applies, the Court found that the computer programs written by the defendant were either compilations or contributions to collective works. Specifically, the Court wrote:

Here, [the defendant] created and combined a number of different computer programs to create [the plaintiff’s] new software system. This new system was comprised of various elements including an open source framework, compression software, a multi-protocol library written by [the defendant’s associate], a "referral" program, anti-fraud software, routing algorithms, and code for an entirely new . . . website. . . .The system as a whole is properly deemed a compilation of computer programs. Alternatively, the source code for each program can be deemed a contribution to the "collective work" that is [the plaintiff’s] system. Thus, [the defendant’s] work falls into one of the nine categories enumerated in [17 U.S.C.] § 101(2).

Court Finds Copyright Ownership Claim Time-Barred, Allows Work-for-Hire Defense

In a June 26, 2015 ruling, Judge Kimba M. Wood ruled that the counterclaim plaintiff’s copyright ownership claim over certain photographs taken by the counterclaim defendant was barred by the three year statute of limitations. The Court wrote that the statute begins to run “‘when a reasonably diligent plaintiff would have been put on inquiry as to the existence of a right.’” Judge Wood found that the counterclaim plaintiff had been put on notice of the counterclaim defendant’s “‘express assertion of sole authorship or ownership’” more than three years before suit. Judge Wood nevertheless permitted the counterclaim plaintiff to assert its work-for-hire defense in response to the counterclaim defendant’s copyright ownership claim, noting that the statute of limitations does not bar a defense. In considering the work-for-hire defense, the Court wrote that merely because the counterclaim defendant’s job responsibilities included taking photographs at times, that does not automatically mean that every photograph the counterclaim defendant took (for example, while “off the clock”) was in the scope of his employment duties, and thus denied in part summary judgment on the defense.