Ty, Inc. v. GMA Accessories Inc., 132 F.2d (1997) p.431

SUBJECT

copyright violation

FACTS

beanie babies were copyrighted

ISSUE

Whether defendant copied plaintiff's beanie baby.

RULE

A similarity may be striking without being suspicious. Must show that defendant had access.

HOLDING

Access and copying may be inferred when two works are so similar to each other and not to anything in the public domain that it is likely that the creator of the second work copied the first, but the inference can be rebutted by disproving access, or otherwise showing independant creation.

NOTES

Inference that the copyright was violated was so great that the burden of proof was shifted to the defendant. The court shifts the burden to the defendant to put in evidence that these common attributes are publically available information. The defendant was not able to show this, so the court found there was copyright violation.

Created on: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 at 19:01:27 (PDT)