## Facts

- Chosun International, Inc., designed and sold children’s “plush sculpture” animal Halloween costumes and obtained copyright registrations for certain costume designs.
- The disputed costumes depicted a lion, an orangutan, and a ladybug and included sculptural elements such as plush animal-head features attached to hoods and hand/claw-like elements attached near sleeve cuffs.
- Chrisha Creations, Ltd., a competing costume company, produced and sold similar plush animal-themed costumes that Chosun alleged copied its designs.
- Chosun sued in the Southern District of New York for copyright infringement and sought damages and injunctive relief.
- After an early hearing where the court viewed the costumes, the district court later dismissed the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), holding that Halloween costumes are uncopyrightable “useful articles” as a matter of law, without analyzing whether any artistic features were separable.
- Chosun appealed; Chrisha cross-appealed seeking attorneys’ fees.

## Issues

1. Whether Halloween costumes are categorically uncopyrightable “useful articles” under 17 U.S.C. § 101 at the pleading stage.
2. Whether the complaint plausibly alleged protectable pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features that are physically or conceptually separable from any utilitarian aspects of the costumes.
3. Whether Chrisha was entitled to attorneys’ fees as a prevailing party after dismissal.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit vacated the judgment dismissing the complaint and remanded for further proceedings.
- The court held the district court erred by treating costumes as uncopyrightable useful articles without conducting a separability analysis of the alleged sculptural features.
- The court concluded the complaint’s allegations could support a finding that certain costume features (e.g., sculpted heads and hands/claws) are separable and therefore potentially protectable.
- The court denied (or treated as moot) Chrisha’s request for attorneys’ fees because vacatur eliminated its prevailing-party status.

## Legal Principles

- A useful article is one with an intrinsic utilitarian function “not merely to portray the appearance of the article or to convey information.” 17 U.S.C. § 101.
- Even if an item is a useful article, copyright may protect pictorial, graphic, or sculptural features that (1) can be identified separately from and (2) are capable of existing independently of the item’s utilitarian aspects (physical or conceptual separability).
- A complaint should not be dismissed on the theory that an entire product category is uncopyrightable where the pleadings plausibly allege separable artistic features.
- On a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, the court must accept the complaint’s factual allegations as true and draw reasonable inferences in the plaintiff’s favor; where separability is plausible, categorical denial of protection is improper at the pleading stage.
- Attorneys’ fees under the Copyright Act generally require prevailing-party status; vacatur of the merits judgment eliminates that basis.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit held that dismissal was premature because the pleadings plausibly alleged sculptural costume elements that might be physically or conceptually separable from any clothing function, requiring further proceedings rather than a categorical useful-article bar.


Chosun Int’l, Inc. v. Chrisha Creations, Ltd., 413 F.3d 324 (2d Cir. 2005)