Memes and Singer Snapshots: Dori Hanswirth on the Biggest Copyright Decisions of 2024 for Law360

Intellectual Property partner and TMT industry group co-head Dori Hanswirth was quoted in the Law360 article, "The Biggest Copyright Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report."

Hanswirth weighed in on Griner et al. v. King et al., a case in which an Eighth Circuit panel ordered former Iowa Rep. Steve King's campaign committee to pay $750 to Laney Griner—whose son was the "Success Kid" meme—for using the copyrighted image in political fundraising.

"I was a little surprised that the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in this particular case because it's a political ad. Of course, political ads are not in the preamble to fair use, but there's at least in my mind some First Amendment leeway for using things in political ads," Hanswirth said. "But once you associate [such use of memes] with any kind of money-making venture… you have triggered the commercial use aspect of this."

Hanswirth also commented on Larry Philpot v. Independent Journal Review, in which a Fourth Circuit three-judge panel determined that a conservative newspaper did not make fair use of a photo of singer Ted Nugent that a concert photographer originally took. "All the newspaper did here was take his picture and kind of comment on Ted Nugent's conservative values or positions," she said. They didn't add any new meaning to the photograph itself."

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