I Got Sued, Babe: Cher On Defense In Copyright Infringement Case
"Even if Nadav’s case survives Cher’s motion to dismiss it still faces a huge uphill battle, including the issues of ownership/originality of the copyrightable elements of Nadav’s work as well as an in-depth “substantial similarity” test at summary judgment or trial phases of the case.
Although typeface and fonts themselves cannot be copyrighted, font software can be copyrighted, and allegations of font software infringement have dogged big media companies for years. Interestingly, Nadav’s complaint includes allegations relating to font software and accuses two of the defendants of copying font software to copy original elements in Nadav’s logos. However, the complaint tacitly acknowledges that Nadav did not secure copyright registration (or an official copyright registration rejection) for the software prior to filing the lawsuit; a prerequisite for bringing suit for those allegations. And, even if Nadav eventually receives a copyright registration for the software, the apparent significant delay in obtaining copyright registration will greatly impact his ability to recover any attorneys’ fees and damages even if he is able to somehow prove that the defendants actually used that software to develop Cher’s logos. If only Nadav could turn back time."
