User:ViperSnake151/Skyy

Ets-Hokin v. Skyy Spirits Inc, 225 F.3d 1068 (9th Cir. 2000), was a United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case in which photographer Ets-Hokin sued Skyy Spirits for infringing his registered copyright for violating a limited license he had given the company for the use of photographs he had made of the company's vodka bottles, and for hiring other photographers to create unauthorized derivative works; new photographs based directly off his photographs. The court ruled however, in favor of a belief that the bottle itself, was not original enough for copyright protection in the first place, stating that the works within a derivative work must also be capable of copyright protection in order to be legally considered a derivative work.

Background
Skyy Spirits had hired Ets-Hokin to take photographs of the Skyy Vodka bottle for an advertising campaign. The photos did not however end up as a work for hire, preferring to maintain his rights over his photos, Ets-Hokin gave the company a limited license to use the photographs. Ets-Hokin also registered his works with the United States Copyright Office. However, unsatisfied with the quality of his images, Skyy commissioned other photographers to create photographs, who did transfer their rights to the company.

Ets-Hokin eventually sued