Bv Engineering v. University of California, Los Angeles

BV Engineering sued the University of California, Los Angeles for copyright infringement. The district court granted summary judgment against BV Engineering on the ground that the eleventh amendment bars actions against the University of California under the Copyright Act of 1976. We affirm.

I

BV Engineering (“BV”) creates and sells computer programs. In 1986, the University of California, Los Angeles (“the University”) purchased one copy each of seven copyrighted computer programs sold by BV, with the accompanying user manuals. The University then made three copies of each program, and ten copies of each user manual.

In July 1986, BV commenced this action against the University. BV asserted various causes of action, including one for copyright infringement under section 501 of the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810 (1982). The district court dismissed with prejudice all claims other than the claim for copyright infringement. On April 17, 1987, the district court granted summary judgment for the University on the ground that the eleventh amendment barred BV’s copyright infringement action against the University. BV Engineering v. University of California, Los Angeles,…