Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc.

76 F.3d 259 (1996)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
F
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
76 F.3d 259 (1996)

Play video

Facts

Cherry Auction, Inc. (Cherry Auction) (defendant) hosted a swap meet in Fresno, California, where individual vendors sold various merchandise to customers. Cherry Auction charged each vendor a daily rental fee and collected additional fees from customers for admission, parking, and food. In 1991, a raid by the local sheriff’s office uncovered more than 38,000 counterfeit recordings from vendors at Cherry Auction’s swap meet. Following the raid, the local sheriff’s office made a lawful request for Cherry Auction to provide information about vendors prior to a swap meet, but Cherry Auction failed to do so. In 1993, Fonovisa, Inc. (Fonovisa) (plaintiff) determined that counterfeit versions of Fonovisa’s copyrighted recordings were still being sold at Cherry Auction’s swap meet, and Fonovisa filed suit against Cherry Auction for copyright infringement. The district court granted Cherry Auction’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, and Fonovisa appealed the dismissal of its claims for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Schroeder, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 805,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Copyright Law
Intellectual Property

Key Terms