Tenth Circuit Denies Copyright Protection for Meshwerks’ Digital Models of Cars in Suit Against Toyota

Holding:

In this advertising dispute, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled that the digital wire-frame models of Toyota sedans used in a 2004 promotional campaign were not entitled to copyright protection for Meshwerks, Inc., the company that was hired to create them. Citing a basic rule that a work must be independently created and possess some degree of creativity for it to receive copyright protection, the Tenth Circuit held that plaintiff-appellant Meshwerks, Inc. merely copied Toyota’s designs in creating digital, wire-frame models of Toyota’s vehicles. Therefore, the car models reflected, no more than the depiction of the vehicles as vehicles, the designs of which actually owed their origins to Toyota, not to Meshwerks, and no unique or original expressions were added to the automobiles. With its digital models not sufficiently original, Meshwerks had no valid copyright over them, and no judgment of infringement could issue.

Detailed Summary:

This case involved the application of copyright principles to the relatively new technology of digital modeling.  In 2003, defendants-appellees Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., Inc. (“Toyota”) and its advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi North America (“Saatchi”), prepared Toyota’s model-year 2004 advertising campaign.  Toyota and Saatchi agreed that the campaign would involve, among other things, digital models of Toyota’s vehicles on Toyota’s website and various other media.  These digital models have substantial advantages over mere product photographs because they allow the advertiser to change the color of the car, its surroundings, and even edit its physical dimensions to portray changes in vehicle styling.

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