Cox Loses DMCA Safe Harbor but Gets a New Trial on Contributory Infringement–BMG v. Cox
BMG sued Cox for the alleged copyright infringement of its users. The court described Cox’s “graduated” policy for terminating subscribers: The first notice alleging a subscriber’s infringement produces no action from Cox. The second through seventh notices result in warning emails…
Copyright Owner Can Serve DMCA Counter-Notifier by Email–Epic Games v. Mendes
DMCA counter-notifications are rare, and litigation over them is even more rare. So my curiosity is piqued that this is the second 512(g) case I’m blogging in a week (the other: DMCA Counternotification Doesn’t Create Personal Jurisdiction in Copyright Owner’s…
DMCA Counternotification Doesn’t Create Personal Jurisdiction in Copyright Owner’s Home Court–Real v. Matteo
This case combines one of my favorite Internet Law topics, 17 USC 512, with one of my least favorite, personal jurisdiction. TL;DR: if a foreign national submits a 512(g) counternotification, it doesn’t ensure the copyright owner can sue in its home…
Zazzle Loses Copyright Jury Verdict, and That’s Bad News for Print-on-Demand Publishers–Greg Young Publishing v. Zazzle
Greg Young Publishing licenses images for posters, many of which are beach- or surfing-themed. Zazzle users posted item listings that included the copyrighted images. Greg Young Publishing sued Zazzle. In a prior ruling, the court held that Section 512(c) applied to…
Court Rejects Gossip Site’s Fair Use Defense–Barcroft v. Coed Media
This is a copyright lawsuit by owners of celebrity photos against a gossip and entertainment website. It’s noteworthy because it went to trial and the plaintiffs prevailed, but the damage award is modest. The court finds that plaintiffs owns or validly…
First Circuit Rejects Copyright Workaround to Section 230–Small Justice v. Ripoff Report
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] Goren runs a law firm, Small Justice. DuPont, a defendant in a case Goren brought, posted two negative reviews about Goren to Ripoff Report. Goren sued DuPont, who…
Section 512(f) Complaint Survives Motion to Dismiss–Johnson v. New Destiny Church
Section 512(f) litigation has resulted in so much futility that it’s big news when a 512(f) complaint even survives a motion to dismiss. In this case, Johnson allegedly displayed copyrighted photos and videos of Paula White Ministries (the court implies…
‘Reaction’ Video Protected By Fair Use–Hosseinzadeh v. Klein
Plaintiff Matt Hosseinzadeh published a video skit featuring the “Bold Guy” character, “Bold Guy vs. Parkour Girl” video. Ethan and Hila Klein created a “reaction video” to it. Hosseinzadeh’s video is five minutes and twenty-four seconds. The Kleins used three…
Vegetarian Ethiopian Cookbook Copyright Lawsuit Turns Sour–Schleifer v. Berns
Law professors love to riff on the copyrightability of cookbooks because it raises several subtle issues. Are recipes copyrightable? Normally not–at least, not the ingredient lists. Cf. the chicken sandwich case. Are compilations of recipes copyrightable? Sure, but compilation copyrights…
Appropriation Artist Can’t Win Fair Use Defense on Motion to Dismiss–Graham v. Prince
This is a lawsuit by plaintiff Donald Graham against well-known “appropriation artist” Richard Prince and his gallery for copyright infringement. As described by the court: Prince’s [work] is [an . . . ] inkjet print of a screenshot taken by…