Ali v. Final Call, Inc.

Dist. Ct. erred in finding in defendant’s favor in copyright infringement action, in which plaintiff alleged that defendant wrongfully sold over 100 lithographic copies of plaintiff’s Louis Farrakhan portrait. Plaintiff established that he owned valid copyright covering said portrait, and that instant copies came from his original portrait. However, Dist. Ct. improperly placed burden on plaintiff to show that instant copying was unauthorized in order to state prima facie case of copyright infringement. As such, it was defendant’s burden to show that its admitted copying of said portrait was authorized. Moreover, plaintiff was entitled to judgment where defendant presented no affirmative defense that would excuse its copying of instant portrait, and where there was no evidence indicating that plaintiff had any understanding with either Farrakhan or defendant regarding use of portrait.