It's official: Don Henley wins summary judgment over Chuck DeVore on copyright claims

It's been a very bad month for Chuck DeVore. On June 8, the Republican Assemblyman from Orange County finished third in the GOP primary for the right to take on Sen. Barbara Boxer (D). And then, just a few days later, federal Judge James Selna issued his formal ruling on Henley's copyright and Lanham Act claims regarding DeVore's videos that used Henley's songs to mock Boxer and President Obama, soundly rejecting DeVore's fair use defense. While I haven't done a line-by-line comparison of the tentative and final rulings, it appears that the one substantive change favored DeVore and his co-defendants. In the tentative ruling, Selna determined that the defendants had committed willful copyright infringement, but in the actual order, he declined to grant summary judgment in favor of either party on that issue.

I assume there will be a jury trial on the issue of willfulness and damages, unless the parties are able to reach a resolution.
Order on Motion for Summary Judgment in Henley v. DeVore