Williams v. Roberto Cavalli S.p.A., No. 14-cv-06659 (C.D.
Cal. Feb. 12, 2015)
Plaintiffs Jason Williams, Victor Chapa, and Jeffrey Rubin sued
the producers and distributors of Just Cavalli clothing, alleging copyright
infringement, removal and alteration of copyright information (CMI) under §1202,
unfair competition, and negligence. Some of the defendants moved to dismiss all
claims but copyright infringement, and failed (even though it will ultimately
be pretty hard to show that the distributors had the requisite knowledge under
§1202 for CMI removal; a more targeted attack on that issue might’ve asked
whether that knowledge was plausibly pled).
The plaintiffs alleged that they were well-known and
respected graffiti artists who created a mural in San Francisco that contained
signature elements identifying them as the creators. The mural depicted the
stylized signatures of “Revok” and “Steel,” pseudonyms associated with two of
the plaintiffs, against a background of “revolutions” imagery, allegedly
publicly recognized as the third plaintiff’s signature style.
Defendants allegedly used high-resolution photography to
obtain images of the mural and placed the images on a collection of Just
Cavalli clothing. While the
“revolutions” imagery was intact, the Revok and Steel signatures were
rearranged and indiscernible.
On some items,
the brand name “Just Cavalli” was superimposed over images from the mural,
allegedly intentionally designed to “induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal”
the infringement.
Examples of Just Cavalli clothing |
On the CMI claim, the court concluded that the artists’
signatures under their pseudonyms counted as CMI, even though they weren’t
provided through a digital technological process. Further, it was sufficient to argue that
defendants removed CMI by copying only part of the mural, so that “the
signatures of Revok and Steel are chopped and rearranged to such an extent that
they are not recognizable.”
Unfair competition: The third plaintiff, Chapa, alleged that
his “revolutions” imagery functioned as “product packaging or logo.” Defendants
argued that Dastar precluded this
kind of claim, but the court concluded that Chapa’s claim alleged passing off,
not reverse passing off, because he alleged that the use of his “revolutions”
imagery created the “false and deceptive impression that the Just Cavalli
garments and accessories are associated with and/or manufactured by [Chapa] and
Plaintiffs.” Designs can be protected by both the Lanham Act and copyright law.
Because Chapa adequately pled his Lanham Act claim, his
California statutory and common law claims also survived.
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