In contrast to the well-known copyright lawsuits in art disciplines such as music, it is rare to come across a copyright case in dance. Indeed, it was not until 1976 that choreography even became a category qualifying for copyright registration and protection. Although the limited copyright lawsuits in dance since 1976 have mostly involved defendants that were other choreographers or artists, the video game Fortnite has become a “plagiarizer” of dance moves causing choreographers to seek legal redress.

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On September 26, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 17 states filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Amazon.com, Inc. accusing the company of violating antitrust law by inhibiting the growth of its third-party sellers and causing inflated prices of consumer goods on and off its platform. In the 172-page complaint filed to initiate the first federal lawsuit against Amazon, plaintiffs asked the court to “put an end to Amazon’s illegal course of conduct, pry loose Amazon’s monopolistic control, deny Amazon the fruits of its unlawful practice, and restore the lost promise of competition.” Compared to previous lawsuits by states and private parties, the FTC’s suit is of particular importance because the Commission has more mandated authority to reign in monopolistic practice in its founding history and statutory language. Amazon's operations clearly constitute a violation of federal antitrust law, and courts must interpret the FTC's lawsuit as a meritorious challenge of exclusionary conduct. If the district court holds Amazon’s anti-competitive business strategies as lawful under Section 5 of the FTC Act, the FTC’s regulatory purpose and authority will be severely undermined—calling into question the effectiveness of existing laws for antitrust enforcement in the age of digital commerce.

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