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Law360 (March 12, 2020, 3:23 PM EDT) -- Citing the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit said Thursday it would relocate oral arguments set for a Seattle courthouse in a closely watched copyright case over a mashup of Dr. Seuss and "Star Trek."
In an order also filed in other cases set for arguments, the appeals court said the April 1 hearing would be relocated from Seattle, one of the U.S. epicenters of the outbreak, to a federal courthouse near Los Angeles.
"The uncertainties of the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) require an adjustment to the upcoming court calendar," the court wrote Thursday.
The order came in a case filed by Dr. Seuss' estate against the authors of a comic book called "Oh, the Places You'll Boldly Go!" that combined Seuss' "Oh, the Places You'll Go!" with aspects of the Star Trek universe.
Last year, a federal trial judge ruled that the book was shielded from the lawsuit by copyright's fair use doctrine.
"Defendants did not copy verbatim text from 'Go!' in writing 'Boldly,' nor did they replicate entire illustrations from 'Go!'" the judge wrote at the time. "Although defendants certainly borrowed from 'Go!' — at times liberally — the elements borrowed were always adapted or transformed."
The estate quickly appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit, where the case has drawn close interest from outside groups like the Motion Picture Association of America over its potential impact on fair use law.
In addition to moving arguments away from Seattle, Thursday's order said the court would allow any attorney to appear telephonically if they wished — and hinted that it might eventually order all cases to be heard remotely anyhow.
"Because the situation may change in terms of national and/or local health directives, counsel should not make nonrefundable travel arrangements," the court wrote. "It is possible that in-person court proceedings may be cancelled, in which case the court will likely hear all argument via telephonic appearances."
The Ninth Circuit also said it was open to scrapping arguments entirely, if the parties agreed to do so.
Thursday's order came hours before the U.S. Supreme Court said it would close its doors to the public for the foreseeable future. Both moves are part of escalating measures nationwide to control the outbreak.
Dr. Seuss Enterprises is represented by Tamar Y. Duvdevani, Stanley J. Panikowski and Andrew Deutsch of DLA Piper.
ComicMix is represented by Dan Booth of Dan Booth Law LLC.
The case is Dr. Seuss Enterprises LP v. ComicMix LLC et al., case number 19-55348, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
--Editing by Adam LoBelia.
For a reprint of this article, please contact reprints@law360.com.
