Photos in a Similar Style Aren't Copyright-Infringing–Woodland vs. Lil Nas X

Summary

The court summarizes the case: Rodney Woodland, a freelance artist and model, posts semi-naked photographs of himself in different poses on Instagram. Montero Lamar Hill, better known as the recording artist Lil Nas X, also has an Instagram account—and he, too, shares semi-naked photos of himself in varying poses (as one apparently does on Instagram these days). I will note, to the relief of everyone, that I have not posted semi-naked (or Full Monty) photos of myself to Instagram, social media, or anywhere else. I guess that makes me old-school. The court displayed all of the photos side-by-side, so of course we’re going to look at them. As you’ll see shortly, Woodland’s photos often strategically hide his goodies but put most everything else on display. So I think this is a SFW post. Regarding Woodland’s posts, the court adds: The photos at issue were posted on his Instagram account between August 2018 and July 2021. Each of Woodland’s twelve posts garnered between eight and seventy-five “likes.” I don’t do Instagram, so I have never received any “likes” at all there. But I’m pretty sure getting 8-75 likes at Instagram, especially for posts that might be considered thirst traps, isn’t impressive, and I think the court is silently judging that. 🤏 As further evidence that the court is judging Woodland’s minimal engagement, the fact recitation continues: Between March and October 2021, Hill posted eight photographs on Instagram that Woodland claims infringed on twelve of his copyrighted photographs. Hill’s posts on Instagram receive hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions, of “likes.” Lack of Access Courts have consistently held that posting works on the Internet, without more, doesn’t ensure that the defendant had “access” to them for purposes of copying-in-fact. The plaintiff must either show a chain of access to the precedent work or show that the precedent works were “widely disseminated” such that we can infer the defendant had access. “Woodland concedes th...