Law note · California

Balboa Insurance Co. v. Trans Global Equities

cite Balboa Ins. Co. v. Trans Global Equities, 218 Cal.App.3d 1327 (Cal. Ct. App. 1990) stage IN FORCE

California Court of Appeal decision establishing the state's common-law misappropriation doctrine, requiring a plaintiff to show: (1) substantial investment of time and money in developing an intangible asset; (2) defendant's appropriation at little or no cost; and (3) resulting injury to plaintiff.

This doctrine underpins California hot-news misappropriation claims for time-sensitive news content, but its scope is substantially curtailed by 17 U.S.C. §301 federal copyright preemption whenever the misappropriated material falls within the subject matter of copyright, leaving only a narrow residual category for facts or time-sensitive information not themselves independently copyrightable.

Primary source: Von Dran Legal
University of Cincinnati Law Review vol. 79; Harvard Berkman Center misappropriation doctrine analysis

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