Whyte Monkee Productions v. Netflix

── Whyte Monkee Productions v. Netflix ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Date: April 30, 2026 Category: General Appellate Case: 22-6086 Document: 213-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2026 Page: 1 FILED United States Court of Appeals PUBLISH Tenth Circuit UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS April 30, 2026 Christopher M. Wolpert FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT Clerk of Court _________________________________ WHYTE MONKEE PRODUCTIONS, LLC; TIMOTHY SEPI, Plaintiffs - Appellants, v. No. 22-6086 NETFLIX, INC.; ROYAL GOODE PRODUCTIONS, LLC, Defendants – Appellees, ------------------------------------ JONATHAN ASKIN; MARK BARTHOLOMEW; BARTON BEEBE; MICHAEL A. CARRIER; MICHAEL W. CARROLL; ZACHARY CATANZARO; DALE COHEN; JORGE L. CONTRERAS; STACEY DOGAN; BRIAN L. FRYE; SHUBHA GHOSH; JAMES GIBSON; ELLEN P. GOODMAN; JAMES GRIMMELMANN; LAURA A. HEYMANN; PETER JASZI; STACEY M. LANTAGNE; LEE ANN WHEELIS LOCKRIDGE; MARK A. LEMLEY; YVETTE JOY LIEBESMAN; ORLY LOBEL; GLYNN LUNNEY; TIMOTHY J. MCFARLIN; MARK P. MCKENNA; VIVA MOFFAT; TYLER T. OCHOA; VICTORIA PHILLIPS; BETSY ROSENBLATT; ZAHR K. SAID; PAMELA SAMUELSON; JASON M. SCHULTZ; JESSICA SILBEY; ERIK STALLMAN; REBECCA TUSHNET; INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY  Appellate Case: 22-6086 Document: 213-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2026 Page: 2 ASSOCIATION; FILM INDEPENDENT; KARTEMQUIN EDUCATIONAL FILMS, INC.; WOMEN IN FILM; THE UNIVERSITY FILM AND VIDEO ASSOCIATION, Amici Curiae. _________________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma (D.C. No. 5:20-CV-00933-D) _________________________________ Gregory Keenan, Digital Justice Foundation, Floral Park, New York (Andrew Grimm of Digital Justice Foundation, Omaha, Nebraska, with him on the briefs), for Plaintiffs- Appellants. Robert H. Rotstein, Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Los Angeles, California (Emily F. Evitt of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP, Los Angeles, California; and Mack J. Morgan, III, of MJMLAW PLLC, Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, with him on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees. Philip R. Malone, Nina K. Srejovic, and Alex S. Cohen, Juelsgaard Intellectual Property and Innovation Clinic, Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA, filed an Amici Curiae brief on behalf of 34 Copyright and Media Law Professors in support of Defendants-Appellees. Jack I. Lerner, UCI Intellectual Property, Arts, and Technology Clinic, University of California, Irvine School of Law, Irvine, CA, and Rom Bar-Nissim, Heah Bar-Nissim LLP, Los Angeles, CA, filed an Amici Curiae brief on behalf of International Documentary Association, Film Independent, Kartemquin Educational Films, Inc., Women In Film, and The University Film and Video Association in support of Defendants-Appellees. _________________________________ Before HOLMES, Chief Judge, HARTZ, and CARSON, Circuit Judges. _________________________________ HOLMES, Chief Judge. _________________________________ 2  Appellate Case: 22-6086 Document: 213-1 Date Filed: 04/30/2026 Page: 3 Plaintiffs-Appellants, Whyte Monkee Productions, LLC (“Whyte Monkee Productions”) and Timothy Sepi, appeal from the District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma’s order granting summary judgment to Defendants-Appellees, Netflix, Inc. (“Netflix”) and Royal Goode Productions, LLC (