Varsity Brands, Inc. v. Star Athletica, LLC

137 S.Ct. 1002 (2017)

Purchase the Printed Copy at bsmsphd.com

Nature of the Case

To access this section all you need to do is click here and register.

Facts

P designs, makes, and sells cheerleading uniforms. P has obtained or acquired more than 200 U. S. copyright registrations for two-dimensional designs appearing on the surface of their uniforms and other garments. The designs are mostly “combinations, positionings, and arrangements of elements” that include “chevrons . . ., lines, curves, stripes, angles, diagonals, inverted [chevrons], coloring, and shapes.” D markets and sells cheerleading uniforms. P sued for copyright infringement for five designs. The court entered summary judgment for D holding that the designs did not qualify as protectable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works. The designs served the useful, or “utilitarian,” function of identifying the garments as “cheerleading uniforms” and therefore could not be “physically or conceptually” separated under §101 “from the utilitarian function” of the uniform. The Court of Appeals reversed. The “graphic designs” were “separately identifiable” because the designs “and a blank cheerleading uniform can appear ‘side by side’-one as a graphic design, and one as a cheerleading uniform.” It reasoned that because the designs were “‘capable of existing independently’” wherein they could be incorporated onto the surface of different types of garments, or hung on the wall and framed as art, they were copyrightable. D appealed.