Landmark Photo Copyright Case Gets Full Appeals Court Rehearing

The Ninth Circuit has granted a rare en banc rehearing in Sedlik v. Kat Von D, the copyright case where photographer Jeffrey Sedlik sued over the use of his Miles Davis portrait as the basis for a tattoo. En banc means the full court hears it, not just a three-judge panel, and that only happens when the court thinks the earlier decision got something wrong or the legal question is significant enough to settle properly. For photographers, the outcome will have real bearing on how reference-based copying of photographs is treated under copyright law. Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia issued the order on June 9.