Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P.

Unicolors, Inc., a textile design company, sued H&M for infringing its copyrighted fabric designs. Unicolors had registered 31 designs in a single application, which violated the Copyright Office’s rule requiring separate applications for published works. H&M argued that this inaccuracy invalidated the registration and barred the infringement suit. The district court ruled for Unicolors, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that an accurate registration was a prerequisite. The U.S. Supreme Court granted review and, on February 24, 2022, issued a 6-3 decision. The Court held that under Section 411(b) of the Copyright Act, a registration certificate remains valid despite inaccurate information if the applicant lacked knowledge of the error. It reversed the Ninth Circuit and remanded the case, emphasizing that the safe harbor protects innocent mistakes.

The Supreme Court reversed the Ninth Circuit, ruling 6-3 that under 17 U.S.C. § 411(b), a certificate of registration is valid and can support an infringement suit, even if it contains inaccurate information, provided the applicant lacked knowledge of that inaccuracy. The case was remanded for further proceedings.

Whether inaccurate information in a copyright registration application invalidates the registration and precludes an infringement action when the copyright holder was unaware of the inaccuracy.

The ruling clarified the Copyright Act’s safe harbor, providing significant protection for creators and rights holders who make honest mistakes during registration. It ensured that technical errors without fraudulent intent would not invalidate copyrights, thereby reducing litigation risks and encouraging registration within creative industries.