Copyright victory for Finnegan client MRIS at the Fourth Circuit

The Fourth Circuit issued its opinion affirming the preliminary injunction issued by Judge Williams in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. v. American Home Realty Network, Inc. The panel’s 3-0 decision sided with firm client Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. (“MRIS”) on each issue on appeal, including two issues of first impression in any circuit court: (1) the validity of electronic copyright assignments under the “writing requirement” set forth in Section 204 of the Copyright Act and the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (“E-SIGN”) and (2) whether Section 409 of the Copyright Act requires a registrant to list the names of authors and titles for each component work within a compilation. The Fourth Circuit’s ruling that an electronic agreement may effect a valid transfer of copyright interests under Section 204 of the Copyright Act is the first of its kind, and has significant implications for the validity of electronic transfers in other areas. Regarding the Section 409 issue, the Fourth Circuit’s opinion disagreed with a number of district court cases holding that copyright registrants failed to comply with the requirements of Section 409 by not listing authors of component works in the application to register the compilation. The Fourth Circuit’s opinion will likely be heavily cited by the courts and other owners of copyright in compilations in the future.