Supreme Court ducks copyright battle between GOP firebrand and 'Success Kid' family

Source: USA TODAY

Supreme Court ducks copyright battle between GOP firebrand and Success Kid' family
Former Rep. Steve King argued memes should be held to a more "flexible" test for copyright infringement.

Maureen Groppe
USA TODAY
Published 9:49 a.m. ET Jan. 21, 2025 * Updated 9:49 a.m. ET Jan. 21, 2025';

WASHINGTON -- Chalk up another win for "Success Kid." ... The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to get involved in a years-long battle over the use of one of the first - and most popular − viral memes by Steve King, a controversial former congressman from Iowa. ... King unsuccessfully argued to the court that memes should be held to a more "flexible" test for copyright infringement. ... He also thought the mother of the kid depicted in the meme should have to cover some of his attorney fees since the amount the jury awarded her for winning her suit against King − $750 - was less than his $15,000 settlement offer.

King said Laney Griner had used "lawfare" to single him out after promoting the meme for others' use because she found him "abhorrent," incorrectly betting that he would cave because he was tired of being attacked. ... "It was to her great surprise that decades of media pressure had not worn away King's spirit, but rather hardened and honed it," his lawyers said in a filing.


A January 2020 screenshot of former Rep. Steve King's Facebook page shows a post incorporating the "Success Kid" photo meme. The family of the child depicted, who hold the rights to the photo, sued King for copyright infringement, and submitted the screenshot as part of their complaint. Special To The Register / Public Access To Court Electronic Records

King - who lost his GOP primary race months after his campaign used the meme in a fundraising request − continued to show that determination in taking his case to the highest court in the land, which rejected his appeal. ... The case started in 2020 when King's campaign committee posted a version of the meme of Griner's son, an 11-month-old with a determined look on his face, clenching a fistful of sand. The post urged supporters to donate to "make sure the memes keep flowing and the Lefties stay triggered."

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Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/01/21/supreme-court-steve-king-success-kid-meme/77839762007/

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Hat tip, SCOTUSblog

https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/01/the-morning-read-for-tuesday-jan-21/

WHAT WE'RE READING
The morning read for Tuesday, Jan. 21

By Ellena Erskine
on Jan 21, 2025 at 10:32 am

The Supreme Court is meeting for oral arguments this morning in Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson Corporation. Each weekday, we select a short list of news articles and commentary related to the Supreme Court. Here's the Tuesday morning read:

'Split-second decision': Supreme Court returns to the question of police killings (Lawrence Hurley, NBC News)
Supreme Court ducks copyright battle between GOP firebrand and Success Kid' family (Maureen Groppe, USA Today)
Supreme Court revives case of death row inmate who says she was 'sex-shamed' at trial (John Fritze & Devan Cole, CNN)
US Supreme Court turns away Pennsylvania mail-in ballot dispute (Andrew Chung, Reuters)
Conservative Fifth Circuit Is an Outlier for Supreme Court (Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson, Bloomberg Law)
Posted in Round-up

Recommended Citation: Ellena Erskine, The morning read for Tuesday, Jan. 21, SCOTUSblog (Jan. 21, 2025, 10:32 AM), https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/01/the-morning-read-for-tuesday-jan-21/