Intellectual Property Law

United States did not waive immunity for copyright infringement claim brought by prisoner

By McKee, Voorhees & Sease, P.L.C.

In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit held the Court of Federal Claims correctly dismissed a copyright infringement suit against the United States for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.  The plaintiff is a federal prisoner who created various coyprightable works while in federal prison.  He brought suit alleging copyright infringement after his works were distributed by Federal Prison Industries.

The Court of Federal Claims dismissed the case for lack of subject matter jurisdiciton, holding the government had not waived its sovereign immunity from suit in this context.  The Federal Circuit affirmed, holding that because the calendars were created using government-furnished computers while the prisoner was in the "service" of the United States, sovereign immunity had not been waived under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b).  As a result, the Court of Federal Claims correctly held it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

More detail of Walton v. United States after the jump.

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Full post as published by FileWrapper on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).