Copyright defendant wins motion for reconsideration in SD Miss

As to the law:



"A Rule 59(e) motion calls into question the correctness of a judgment." Templet
v. Hydrochem Inc., 367 F.3d 473, 478 (5th Cir. 2004). There are three grounds for
altering or amending a judgment under Rule 59(e): "(1) an intervening change in
controlling law, (2) the availability of new evidence not previously available, or (3) the
need to correct a clear error of law or prevent manifest injustice." Williamson Pounders
Architects, P.C., 681 F. Supp. 2d 766, 767 (N.D. Miss. 2008).




There was a correction of a factual error:


First, Defendant argues that the Court erred in holding that the record contains
no evidence that she paid the filing fee to accompany her application for copyright
registration. Defendant is correct. The record contains an e-mail receipt from Pay.gov
demonstrating that Defendant's attorney remitted the $35.00 filing fee. See Exhibit I
at 4, Dennis Pierce, Inc. v. Pierce, No. 2:16-CV-102-KS-MTP (S.D. Miss. July 3, 2017),
ECF No. 52-9.



Summary judgment was inappropriate:



As for the other arguments raised in Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment
- that Defendant created the mark as a "work for hire," that Dennis Pierce was a "joint
author" of the work, that the mark lacks the requisite creativity and originality to
receive copyright protection, and that Defendant granted Dennis Pierce an irrevocable
license to use the mark - the Court finds that there are genuine disputes of material
fact that preclude summary judgment on these bases. Moreover, Plaintiffs cited no
legal support for their "misuse of copyright" argument.
The Court grants Defendant's Motion for Reconsideration as to her copyright
infringement counterclaim.


See Pierce v. Pierce, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 147075