Intellectual Property
Sep. 30, 2026
9th Circuit weighs overhaul of decades-old copyright infringement test
An en banc panel considering photographer Jeffrey Sedlik's copyright case against tattoo artist Kat Von D questioned whether the circuit's longstanding "intrinsic" test is too subjective to permit meaningful appellate review.
An 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared open Tuesday to overhauling a decades-old test for copyright infringement as it reheard photographer Jeffrey Sedlik's lawsuit accusing celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D of copying his portrait of jazz legend Miles Davis.
During the Sept. 29 en banc argument, judges repeatedly questioned the court's "extrinsic-intrinsic" framework for determining whether two works are substantially similar, particu...
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