Summary
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Rodney Woodland’s copyright infringement action against Montero Lamar Hill, also known as Lil Nas X. The court held that Woodland did not plausibly allege Hill had access to his Instagram photographs and therefore failed to adequately plead copying. The court also held that the photographs were not substantially similar in their protectable selection and arrangement of elements.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Woodland plausibly alleged that Hill had access to his Instagram photographs and therefore copied copyrighted material.
- Whether Hill's photographs were substantially similar to the protectable expression in Woodland's photographs so as to constitute unlawful appropriation.
- Whether the number of allegedly similar photographs supported an inference of copying sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.
Holdings
- Woodland did not plausibly allege that Hill had access to his photographs. Merely alleging that both parties used Instagram and that Woodland's photographs were posted there established only a bare possibility, not a reasonable possibility, that Hill viewed them; without access, Woodland did not adequately allege copying.
- Woodland did not plausibly allege unlawful appropriation because Hill's photographs were not substantially similar to the protectable expression in Woodland's photographs. Copyright protection covered the photographs' sufficiently original selection and arrangement of otherwise unprotected elements, not the individual poses, lighting, costumes, makeup, or general ideas viewed in isolation.
- The allegation that Hill allegedly copied twelve photographs did not itself establish access or otherwise permit Woodland's copyright claim to survive dismissal.
Key quotations
“To sum up, social media and other digital-sharing platforms could make it easier for plaintiffs to show that defendants had access to their materials—but only if they can show that the defendants had a reasonable chance of seeing their work under that platform’s algorithm or content-sharing policy.” (136 F.4th at 1205)
“What is protected by copyright is the photographer’s selection and arrangement of the photo’s otherwise unprotected elements. If sufficiently original, the combination of subject matter, pose, camera angle, etc., receives protection, not any of the individual elements standing alone.” (136 F.4th at 1209)
Factual background
Rodney Woodland posted original semi-naked photographs of himself in various poses and settings on Instagram between August 2018 and July 2021. Montero Lamar Hill, known as Lil Nas X, posted eight photographs on Instagram between March and October 2021 that Woodland alleged infringed twelve of his photographs. Woodland's photographs received between eight and seventy-five likes, while Hill's posts received hundreds of thousands or millions of likes. Woodland alleged that Instagram's recommendation algorithm created a reasonable possibility that Hill viewed his photographs.
Procedural history
Woodland sued Hill for copyright infringement, declaratory relief, an accounting, and unjust enrichment based on alleged similarities between Woodland's Instagram photographs and Hill's photographs. After dismissing the initial claims with leave to amend, the district court dismissed the second amended complaint, which asserted only copyright infringement, without leave to amend. Woodland appealed, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.