Copyright Roundup

JOHN WIERZBICKI
Law Offices of John R. Wierzbicki

WELCOME TO THE LATEST EDITION OF THE Copyright Roundup, in which we encapsulate developments in copyright through June, 2025. You are also invited to attend the meetings of the Copyright IG, which occur on the first Wednesday of each month, and at which we discuss these and other topics affecting copyright practice. To join the call, please contact the IG’s Chair, Marcus Peterson (marcus.peterson@oracle.com) or the Vice Chairs, Angus MacDonald (Angus.MacDonald@ucop.edu) or John Wierzbicki (jwierzbickilaw@gmail.com).

Lampshades on fire when the lights go out.¹

In Roxana Towry Russell v. Walmart Inc. (9th Cir., June 18, 2025) 2025 WL 1703638, a jury found Walmart liable for copyright infringement based on Walmart.com listings that (1) contained plaintiff’s two copyrighted photographs and (2) sold lamps that infringed on her copyrighted sculptural lamps. Walmart appealed. Held, affirmed in part and reversed in part. Substantial evidence supported the jury’s verdict that Walmart directly infringed plaintiff’s lamp copyrights. The jury could reasonably have believed that Walmart took legal title to the infringing lamps, controlled their sale, designated shipping carriers, handled returns, and received payments directly from buyers, actions that went beyond Walmart merely hosting a website. The court reversed the jury’s verdict as to the photographs, however, because a third-party vendor had uploaded the images to Walmart’s platform, and Walmart did not control or intervene in that process. Walmart also did not materially contribute to or induce the infringement, and had no direct financial interest in the infringing activity. A partial dissent argued that the court should