USLegal Reporter » Copyright Infringement

Second Music Download Case Goes to Trial

Dana Altman — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:08:04 +0000

A Boston University student, 25 year-old Joel Tenenbaum, is on trial in a lawsuit brought against him by the recording industry. He is accused on illegally downloading and distributing music online. Although only 30 songs are at issue in the case, the plaintiffs claim Tenenbaum has downloaded and distributed thousands of songs online.

Tenenbaum is represented by Harvard law professor Charles Nesson. Last month, in the first music downloading case to go to trial, a federal jury awarded $1.9 million in damages against a Minnesota woman for copyright infringement.

Source: http://www.breakinglegalnews.com/entry/Lawyer-defends-song-swapper-in-Mass-download-case

Music Industry to End Major Filing Sharing Lawsuits

carrie — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:54:17 +0000

The Recording Industry of America says it plans a new approach to curb online piracy. Since 2003, the RIAA has filed lawsuits against more than 35,000 people for allegedly stealing music using the Internet.

The RIAA says it will now work with Internet-service providers to target customers who engage in illegal activity. Under an agreement worked out with major ISPs, customers will be sent emails warning them to stop filing sharing or risk losing their Internet service.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122966038836021137.html

Court Rules Against Harry Potter Dictionary

Dana Altman — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:36:21 +0000

The author of the Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling, and the producer of the films based upon her books, Warner Bros. Entertainment, have successfully sued a small publisher based in Muskegon, Michigan to stop the publication of a Harry Potter lexicon. The judge in the case ruled that the book went too far in quoting the Harry Potter books and referring to guides by Rowling, in violation of copyright laws.

Rowling and Warner Bros. were also awarded $6,750 in statutory damages. However, the defendant publisher expressed pleasure with the court’s recognition that copyright holders do not have the right to stop the publication of reference guides and companion books about literary works. The lexicon’s main author, Steven Vander Ark, claims to still be a Potter and Rowling fan. Vander Ark remains undeterred in plans to publish a travel memoir called “In Search of Harry Potter”, detailing his UK journeys in search of places that reminded him of scenes from the Potter books.

Source: http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=607&docId=l:l:848521851&topicId=12722&source=undefined&start=3&topics=single

Maker of Scrabble Files Lawsuit Against Similar Online Game Version

carrie — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:18:18 +0000

Hasbro, the maker of popular word game Scrabble, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York on Thursday against Scrabulous, a similar online application. In its complaint, Hasbro says Scrabulous manufacturer, RJ Softwares, has committed copyright infringement and engaged in unfair competitive practices.

Scrabulous has more than 500,000 daily active users on Facebook, a popular social networking site.

Hasbro has formally notified Facebook of the problem and has asked for the application to be taken down. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Facebook will not be liable for any alleged copyright infringement under a safe harbor provision. However, Facebook must respond to the notification or it will lose its immunity.

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/technology/chi-fri-hasbro-scrabulousjul25,0,7068069.story

Harry Potter Author in Court to Stop Book Publication

carrie — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:56:12 +0000

Popular children’s author J.K.Rowling testified in a New York Court today to block the publication of soon to be released dictionary called the Harry Potter Lexicon based on her book series.

Rowling says the Lexicon book by author Steven Vander Ark amounts to copyright infringement and that she has planned to publish her own Harry Potter dictionary and give the proceeds to charity.

Vander Ark defends that his work amounts to ”fair use” of Rowlings books as allowed by federal law for research, criticism, and commentary.

The case is Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. v. RDR Books, 07-cv-09667, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=aR2uXKyRcjAQ&refer=uk

Harry Potter Author to Sue Over New Book

carrie — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 21:00:00 +0000

J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan today claiming a soon to be released book about Happy Potter amounts to copyright infringement. “Harry Potter” is the popular children’s book series chronicling the adventures of a young wizard.

Author Rowling has taken issue with a soon to be released companion book called ”The Harry Potter Lexicon.” It is scheduled to be released by Michican based publishers RDR Books on November 28th.

Rowling says she has her own plans to write the “definitive” companion book to the series and that she plans to donate proceeds to charity.

Her lawsuit seeks damages for copyright infringement and for any profits gained from the book.

Source: http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=allBreakingNews&storyID=2007-10-31T195657Z_01_N31339724_RTRIDST_0_HARRYPOTTER-LAWSUIT.XML

Minnesota Mom says She Will Appeal Verdict in RIAA Lawsuit

carrie — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:20:45 +0000

An attorney for Jammie Thomas said today that his client will appeal a jury’s decision in a file sharing lawsuit brought by the Recording Industry Association of America. Thomas, a single mother of two children, was found guilty of illegally downloading 24 copyrighted songs to her computer.

A jury ruled last Friday that she be required to pay $220,000 to six record companies as restitution for her actions.

This is the first RIAA civil lawsuit to go trial.

Sources: http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202300917

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-20069151.htm

RIAA Files Lawsuit Against Vanderbilt Network Users

carrie — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:36:51 +0000

The Recording Industry of America today filed lawsuits against students and personnel at Vanderbilt University claiming the individuals engaged in copyright infringement violations. The students and personnel were not named, rather 18 “John Doe” lawsuits were issued against those who are accused of illegal music file trafficking via the Internet.

RIAA says it will continue to take necessary steps to crack down on online music theft at college campuses across the country.

Source: http://www.ashlandcitytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070501/NEWS04/70501035

Viacom Sues YouTube, Google for more than $1 Billion

carrie — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:46:03 +0000

Media giant Viacom has filed a copyright infringement law suit against the popular online video file-sharing site, YouTube and its parent owner, Google. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court of New York on Tuesday.

Viacom claims YouTube has carried more than 100,000 unauthorized clips on its site. Last month, Viacom demanded that YouTube remove the video clips that had been uploaded by its users. Viacom is seeking more than one billion dollars in damages asserting that YouTube has shown “brazen disregard for intellectual property laws.”

Meanwhile, Google said in a statement that it respects the copyrights at issue and that it “will not let this suit become a distraction to the continuing growth and strong performance of YouTube.”

Source: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173776611964