Lesley
Lesley v. Spike TV
Opinion
Lead Opinion
*358 MEMORANDUM **
Brad Lesley appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Spike TV, Tokyo Broadcasting System (“TBS”), and Bellon Entertainment in his action for copyright infringement and breach of contract. We affirm.
I. Copyright Infringement
Copyright protection is available only for “original works of authorship.” 17 U.S.C. § 102 (a). A work qualifies as original if it “was independently created by the author (as opposed to copied from other works)” and “possesses at least some minimal degree of creativity.” Feist Pub’ns, Inc. v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co., 499 U.S. 340, 345 , 111 S.Ct. 1282 , 113 L.Ed.2d 358 (1991). Even if improvised, “commonplace” expressions — those expressions naturally associated with a given idea or setting — “are treated like ideas and therefore not protected by copyright.” Swirsky v. Carey, 376 F.3d 841, 850 (9th Cir.2004).
Lesley has not adduced sufficient evidence to show a genuine issue on whether his performance was sufficiently creative. His expressions were naturally associated with the theme of the show and, therefore, were “commonplace.” Likewise, Lesley’s non-verbal acts naturally flowed from the show’s structure and…