State Farm Fire and Casualty Insurance Company v. White
United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
777 F. Supp. 952 (1991)

- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
Edward White (defendant) was sued by a group of plaintiffs alleging that he had stolen their architectural plans and related copyrights. White was insured by State Farm Fire and Casualty Insurance Company (State Farm) (plaintiff), and State Farm sued White, seeking a declaration that White’s insurance policy did not provide coverage to White in the other action. State Farm argued that White’s policy covered only tangible property and that the architectural plans under dispute were intangible intellectual property because they derived their value from the copyrighted material they contained rather than from the physical paper on which they were printed. State Farm argued that it had no duty to defend White because White’s policy did not cover copyright claims. White countered that although his policy did not cover copyright-infringement claims, it did cover claims relating to tangible property. As physical documents, the architectural plans were covered. State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Murphy, J.)
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