TV Academy’s Copyright Claims Over Covid ‘Crony Awards’ Survive

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said it will not dismiss the copyright and trademark infringement claims brought by The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (the “Academies”) against Multimedia System Design Inc. (dba Crowdsource the Truth). Finnegan represented the Academies, alleging that Crowdsource infringed their rights when it used an image of the Emmy Award statuette in a video for its “Crony Awards.” The district court judge concluded the Academies had adequately alleged reputational harm as a result of Crowdsource’s “association of the Emmy statuette with dangerous misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.” In an effort to dismiss the Academies’ trademark dilution and copyright claims, Crowdsource asserted a fair use defense, saying the graphic was used for a parody or social commentary. The court disagreed and said, “…its video does not mention either the Emmy statuette or the Television Academies, and nothing about its use of the Crony graphic pokes fun at or comments on the Television Academies.”

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