Speaker: Laura W. Brill, founding partner, Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP

Courts are often asked to determine as a matter of law whether two works have so little in common that claims for copyright infringement can be dismissed at an early stage of the proceedings. Determinations about the proper role of facts, expert opinions, and the functions of judges and juries all come into play in such cases.

Some of the most high profile copyright cases before the Ninth Circuit in recent years that touch on these issues have also involved the so-called “inverse ratio rule.” The Ninth Circuit has struggled to answer whether and to what extent proof of access should lessen the degree of similarity necessary to make out a case of infringement.

This program will focus on recent decisions addressing the inverse ratio rule, substantive and procedural uncertainties the doctrine has created, prospects for clarification, and the reasons you should not ask your high school math teacher for copyright advice.

Laura W. Brill is a founding partner of Kendall Brill & Kelly LLP. A former law clerk to Hon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, she is obsessed with copyright law and high school voter registration and generally prefers positive correlations to inverse ratios.

Not Trigonometry: Substantial Similarity and the Uncertain Future of the Inverse Ratio Rule.