Cathay (Cath-Ā) Smith🪻

The case is Zhang v. AnyDesign US, et al. Oral arguments will be held on October 30, 2025 at 9:30 am. (Many thanks to my fab colleague Sarah Fackrell for alerting me to this dispute, which was filed as a #ScheduleA case.)

the work owes its originality to nature and/or is an exact duplicate (or “slavish copy”) of a natural product, which does not meet copyright originality. For a deep dive into these legal issues and similar cases check out "Copyrighting Nature": lnkd.in/gASYd5_c

A copyrighting nature case is heading to the Seventh Circuit! Plaintiff claims copyright to a photo of natural marble design. District Court vacated preliminary injunction finding lack of record to support originality, and plaintiff appealed. #copyright #originality

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Ok #Chicago, I understand that it’s important to be prepared, but couldn’t we have paused the monthly disaster sirens testing just for today?

A story I never planned to write but needs to be told - pregnant at 50, facing life and death dictated by state lines. @Newsweek #AbortionIsHealthcare Buckle up for a wild ride and a long thread 🧵 1/20 newsweek.com/pregnant-50-li…

We may have images but we are not @gettyimages (hi guys)...despite similar names. Sorry for any confusion.

pretty soon she'll reach the age of majority & then she can make her own decisions i argue in "of marks & minors," forthcoming in @houstonlrev, that it shouldn't be so easy for parents to consent on behalf of minor children to register their name marks papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…

As "Who Framed Mickey Mouse" approaches publication with @KansasLawReview, a short (~3k words) policy companion piece I wrote is looking for a home - it was originally written for a symposium but it doesn't quite fit: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf… - any journals interested?

@tiffanycli Be the copyright problem you wish to see.

But that requires copyright owners of the images to assert infringement, and individuals featured in photos don't always own the #copyright to photos of themselves.

As @andrew_gilden (@WillametteLaw) and I explain in @thehill, because of strong protections for political speech, claims against these unauthorized uses are difficult. Historically, the most successful claims have been brought under copyright law... #copyrightlaw @ChicagoKentLaw

Check out this Financial Times article discussing my @ChicagoKentLaw IP colleague @Jordi_Goodman's important research. We should all be asking: is our society missing out on life-changing inventions or solutions due to systemic barriers in the patent system? #patent #equity #IP

What causes gender and race disparities in patenting? 🤔 Chicago-Kent College of Law Associate Professor Jordana Goodman discusses systemic barriers faced by underrepresented inventors and notes that tech like generative AI isn’t a cure-all for bias: on.ft.com/3RMYz90

the case will likely come down to whether the the image that Musk used copied enough protectable elements from BR2049 for the two to be substantially similar.

I was quoted in this Bloomberg News article about Elon Musk's use of copyrighted images from Blade Runner 2049 for his robotaxi presentation. news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/tesla-b… #copyright #bladerunner2049 @ChicagoKentLaw As explained in the article, this isn't a fair use case. Instead...

🧐Brancusi's "Golden Bird" is in the background of the pic: part of the artist's Bird series that later developed into his "Bird in Space" sculptures. Bird in Space (Flight) was at the center of the 1928 Customs Court case Brancusi v. US that helped redefine "art" under U.S. law

Spotted! My incredible students from @ChicagoKentLaw's Intellectual & Cultural Property Law seminar visiting the @artinstitutechi to discuss legal issues of art as speech, copyright & appropriation art, & cultural property repatriation. #copyright #artlaw #culturalproperty