Los Angeles News Service v. KCAL-TV Channel 9
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
108 F.3d 1119 (1997), cert. denied 522 U.S. 823

- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
Los Angeles News Service (LANS) (plaintiff) was an independent news organization that provided news stories, photographs, and other services to the news media. During the Los Angeles riots of 1992, LANS captured footage of the beating of Reginald Denny from its helicopter and licensed the footage to various news stations for broadcast. KCAL-TV Channel 9 (defendant) requested a license, which LANS refused, but KCAL obtained the footage from another station and broadcast the footage a number of times on commercially sponsored news programs. LANS brought suit against KCAL for copyright infringement, but the district court granted summary judgment in KCAL’s favor after finding that KCAL was entitled to the fair-use defense because the footage depicted a newsworthy event. LANS appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rymer, J.)
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