Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Geophysical Service, Inc. v. TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 18-20493 · judgment September 13, 2019
Before the decision, about 2.5× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition), and down for a business respondent.
Questions presented
-
This Court has never addressed the nature or scope of the defense of implied license to copyright infringement, and the circuits are split. a. Is implied license a species of implied-in-fact contract requiring proof of the grantor’s intent by concepts familiar to contract law, such as a “meeting of the minds”? Or, as the Fifth Circuit held, can a license later be implied by a court based on a “totality of the circumstances,” irrespective of the grantor’s intent? b. Does the burden to establish that the scope of the implied license covers the infringing conduct remain with the defendant? Or, as the Fifth Circuit held, does a burden of proof shift to the copyright owner to show that it “objected” to a specific potential infringing use?
-
The basis for the implied license was the copyright owner’s deposit of seismic works with a Canadian energy regulator. Are copies made as a result of foreign government compulsion “lawfully made under this title” within the meaning of 17 U.S.C. § 109, as discussed in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519 (2013)?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Don Cruse
Law Office of Don Cruse
For respondent
Jonathan Saul Franklin
Norton Rose Fulbright US, LLP
Proceedings
- May 26 2020Petition DENIED.
- May 08 2020Reply of petitioner Geophysical Service, Incorporated filed. (Distributed)
- May 05 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 5/21/2020.
- Apr 20 2020Brief of respondent TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company in opposition filed.
- Feb 26 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including April 20, 2020.
- Feb 24 2020Motion to extend the time to file a response from March 20, 2020 to April 20, 2020, submitted to The Clerk.
- Feb 19 2020Response Requested. (Due March 20, 2020)
- Feb 13 2020Brief amicus curiae of American Society of Media Photographers, Inc. filed. (Distributed)
- Feb 12 2020DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 2/28/2020.
- Feb 11 2020Blanket Consent filed by Petitioner, Geophysical Service, Incorporated.
- Feb 03 2020Waiver of right of respondent TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company to respond filed.
- Jan 10 2020Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due February 13, 2020)
- Dec 04 2019Application (19A618) granted by Justice Alito extending the time to file until January 11, 2020.
- Nov 27 2019Application (19A618) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 12, 2019 to January 11, 2020, submitted to Justice Alito.