Personal Keepsakes, Inc. v. Personalizationmall.com, Inc., No. 11 C 05177, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Sept. 24, 2013) (Tharp, J.).
Judge Tharp granted Defendants’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss Counts I and II for failure to state a claim under which relief can be granted. Count I alleged copyright infringement and Count II alleged violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DCMA”).
The Court held Plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a claim for copyright infringement because it did not plausibly allege that the allegedly copyrighted phrase, “May the strength of the Holy Spirit be with you, guiding you every day of your life,” was protected by a valid copyright. The Court held the phrase was too common and unoriginal to receive copyright protection, was not protected by Plaintiff’s alleged copyright because the copyright registration was for an entire collection of poems that spanned six pages not for the single at-issue sentence, and there was no substantial similarity between the elements of Plaintiff’s and Defendant’s works.
The Court held Plaintiff’s complaint failed to state a claim under the DCMA because Copyright Management Information was not displayed on or with the allegedly copied works.