WINFIELD COLLECTION, LIMITED, Plaintiff-Appellant Cross-Appellee, v. GEMMY INDUSTRIES, CORP., Defendant-Appellee Cross-Appellant., 147 Fed. Appx. 547

Summary

The company produced two-dimensional craft designs. In 1996, the company produced a design that enabled consumers to craft a witch-like figure that appeared to have just crashed into a tree or other structure. The corporation produced three-dimensional figures. Prior to 1996, the corporation produced and copyrighted a decorative witch figure sitting on a broom, which consumers could hang in the air. In 1998, the corporation began to produce two witch figures that appeared to have just crashed into a tree or similar object while flying on a broom. The company alleged that the corporation's witch infringed the copyright of its witch. The appellate court found that the district court properly granted summary judgment to the corporation on the company's copyright infringement claim under 17 U.S.C.S. § 501 where although the corporation had access to the company's design, which appeared in millions of catalogues throughout the country, the corporation and the company's witches were not even...