1st Circuit Reinstates $675,000 File-Sharing Award Against Tenenbaum — Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, 2011 WL 4133920 (1st Cir. Sept. 16, 2011) [pdf] Sony’s lawsuit against Joel Tenenbaum was one of two file-sharing lawsuits brought by record labels against end users that proceeded to…
Web Vendor Dispute Gets Ugly–Ground Zero Museum v. Wilson
By Eric Goldman Ground Zero Museum Workshop v. Wilson, 2011 WL 3758582 (D. Md. Aug. 24, 2011) Disputes like these make me wonder if we can’t find some way to get along. Suson runs a non-profit museum focused on the…
Ninth Circuit Upholds Web Host’s Liability for Counterfeiting Retailers–Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc
By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., No. 10-15909 (9th Cir. Sept. 12, 2011). Prior blog posts: * Another Bad Ruling in Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc * Making Sense of the $32M Contributory Trademark Infringement Judgment…
Resetting the Righthaven Fiasco (July-August 2011 Quick Links, Part 1)
By Eric Goldman The Righthaven empire is in tatters. It hasn’t expanded its inventory of cases for months (no new cases in July or August); its existing inventory of cases is shrinking for lack of standing and, increasingly, for lack…
Second Circuit Says No First Sale Doctrine for Works Manufactured Outside the U.S. — Wiley & Sons v. Kirtsaeng
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Wiley & Sons, Inc. v. Kirtsaeng, 09-4896-cv (2nd Cir. Aug. 15, 2011) Wiley asserted copyright infringement claims against Kirtsaeng, who imported into the United States and sold “foreign editions” of Wiley textbooks. The books had legends…
Mixed DMCA Online Safe Harbor Ruling in Cloud-Based Music Locker Case–Capitol v. MP3Tunes
By Eric Goldman Capitol Records, Inc. v. MP3Tunes, LLC, 2011 WL 3667335 (SDNY Aug. 22, 2011). Background. This case involves MP3Tunes.com and Sideload.com. MP3Tunes is a music storage locker. Small lockers are free, but more storage is available at a…
Catching Up on 4 Months of Online Copyright Cases–Myxer, Hotfile, Megaupload, Flava Works, Zediva, Blue Nile, Perfect 10, Rojadirecta
By Eric Goldman Online copyright cases have been coming at such a furious pace that I haven’t had a chance to keep up. This blog post wraps up the last 4 months of decisions. Arista Records v. Myxer, Inc., 2:08-cv-03935-GAF-JC…
P2P Swarm Defendants Can’t Be Joined in the Same Lawsuit — Pac. Century Int’l Ltd. v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Pacific Century International Ltd. v. Does, C-11-02533 (DMR) (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2011) There have been a slew of recent procedural rulings in mass copyright cases, with plaintiffs mostly getting smacked down by courts. Plaintiffs have…
The “Graduated Response” Deal: What if Users Had Been At the Table? (Co-Authored Post)
[Cross-posted to EFF’s Deeplinks as well as here] By Corynne McSherry and Eric Goldman As was widely reported last week, several major internet access providers (including, very likely, yours) struck a deal last week with big content providers to help…
17 USC 512(f) Preempts State Law Claims Over Bogus Copyright Takedown Notices–Amaretto v. Ozimals
By Eric Goldman Amaretto Ranch Breedables, LLC v. Ozimals, Inc., 2011 WL 2690437 (N.D. Cal. July 8, 2011). I generally like furry critters, but I’m beginning to hate the virtual horses and virtual bunnies for their deleterious effect on Internet…