I’ve mentioned a few victories for the porn industry in copyright infringement suits recently, including a huge $4 Million default judgment by Fraserside, IP. Guess they were emboldened with that victory and have tried again. Fraserside have filed another lawsuit, this time against the so-called “Porn Family Mafia.” The defendants are accused of hosting a… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Interesting Cases
Subscribe to Interesting Cases RSS FeedPorn Industry Wins Another Copyright Victory
Posted in Interesting Cases, Online piracyI mentioned earlier about the $4 Million default judgment entered against the PornVisit.com site for the unauthorized streaming of some porn movies. That’s real money. Well, it happened again. This time, Corbin Fisher and Titan Media secured a summary judgment victory against GLBT Ltd. for copyright infringement. For those of you who are unfamiliar with… Continue Reading
Oracle Forced To Drop Software Patents To Pursue Software Copyrights
Posted in Interesting Cases, Oracle v. Google, Software ProtectionRecall that Oracle sued Google for both copyright infringement and patent infringement based, allegedly, on Google’s use of the JAVA technology in the Android phone operating system. At the time that suit was filed, I’m certain the thinking was that those Oracle software patents would be the strongest part of the case. That’s what everyone… Continue Reading
Copyright Versus Patent: Let’s Get It On!
Posted in Fair Use, Infringement Defenses, Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionIf you follow my blog at all, you know that I often comment on the emerging use of copyright law over patent law to protect software. In fact, I will tell anyone who’ll listen that I think software copyrights should be the preferred mechanism for protecting your software over patents. But even I could not… Continue Reading
Fraserside Awarded $4 Million Against PornVisit.com
Posted in I.P. Address Suits, Interesting Cases, Litigation DamagesJudges are clearly of two different minds when it comes to copyright infringement and culpability. For example, consider these two recent cases that are similar on the facts, but have very different outcomes. K-Beech, Inc. v. Schreiber and Valdez, et al. In this case, K-Beech sued several people for copyright infringement of a small number… Continue Reading
Software Copyrights Keep Gaining Steam: Spry Foxx Sues 6Waves
Posted in Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionLocal Seattle game developer Spry Foxx has sued 6waves for software copyright infringement based on 6waves’s knock-off of Spry Foxx’s hit game Triple Town. Good for Spry Foxx. Triple Town is shown on the left, and the 6waves knock-off on the right. There are definitely similarities, although to my eye not as many as the… Continue Reading
Oracle Advances Software Copyrights, Drops Patent Claims Against Google
Posted in Interesting Cases, Oracle v. Google, Software ProtectionI frequently blog about the benefits of software copyrights over software patents. I’ve also mentioned how Oracle is leading the charge in terms of promoting its software copyrights more than its software patents. Nowhere is it more apparent that software patents are the new thing, and software patents are out, than in the Oracle v…. Continue Reading
Hana Beshara (Phara) Goes To Jail for Criticizing the Government
Posted in Interesting Cases, Online piracy, Software ProtectionHana Beshara, the self-proclaimed attractive co-founder of NinjaVideo, was recently sentenced to 22 months in jail. Now this really isn’t a big surprise, given the government’s fairly recent push to demonize and vilify people who push the limits of fair use online. As a copyright attorney myself, I can’t really say I’m in favor of… Continue Reading
Software Copyrights Keep Getting Attractive
Posted in Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionI keep advocating for the use of software copyrights to defend your software products, and it looks like that message is taking hold. I don’t just mean using copyrights to prevent people from making pirate copies of your actual software. That’s the easy case. I also mean in the broader sense of another developer waiting… Continue Reading
Email is Bad: Don’t Use It!
Posted in Interesting CasesIt looks like Grooveshark Chairman Sina Simantob is learning a valuable but painful lesson about what should and should not go into email. Mr. Simantob committed a cardinal sin, he put a bunch of incriminating stuff in emails that he never thought anyone would ever see. I’m more than certain he regrets every word of… Continue Reading
Software Copyrights Protect More Than Just Code
Posted in Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionAs I frequently say, software copyrights are the new thing. Since long ago, software patents were viewed as the only vehicle to protect your software against anything except actually selling unauthorized copies of your software. But most people don’t remember that until the rise of software patents, which is a relatively new thing, copyright law… Continue Reading
Grooveshark v Universal: Can you believe some people?
Posted in DMCA Safe Harbor, Interesting CasesGrooveshark is an online music community that lets users search for, stream, and upload music. I think it is essentially trying to be like Facebook for music. Since there is music involved, naturally UMG sued Grooveshark for copyright infringement. Of course they did. Ordinarily, this would be just another “music industry sues website” case without… Continue Reading
BMI Copyright Lawyers Frequent Willie’s Wet Spot
Posted in Interesting CasesWhat those lawyers were doing at the “Wet Spot” is anyone’s guess, but they did it frequently. BMI sued Wille’s Wet Spot for copyright infringement. The allegation is that the club allowed unauthorized public performances of music that BMI licenses. If you are not familiar with BMI, that is what they do. BMI representatives go… Continue Reading
Copyright Infringement: Folks Are Going To Jail
Posted in Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionCopyright infringement has been around for a long, long time. But it is really becoming a very dangerous idea. The traditional remedy for copyright infringement has always been money. If you copy my stuff, you have to pay me for it. The theory is that, unlike tangible property, you don’t really deprive me of my… Continue Reading
Apple keeps getting sued for copyright infringement
Posted in Firm Cases, Interesting CasesApple is in trouble again for copyright infringement. They were recently sued for copyright violations for selling an application through the iStore that extracts pictures from Flickr and then re-publishes them. The application doesn’t seek permission in advance, and it even (allegedly) strips any embedded copyright management information. This is a problem, in general, in… Continue Reading
Copyright Protection for Software: Keeps Getting Better
Posted in Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionI continue to believe that copyright protection for software is the better legal theory than patent law. Copyright protection is way easier to get, cheaper to acquire, and exists instantly. It also lasts longer, but who uses 70-year old software anyway? I think my opinion definitely has its supporters. Obviously, the Oracle case against SAP… Continue Reading
Copyright Infringement by State Schools: Authors Guild Might Have a Problem
Posted in Interesting CasesAlexandra Mackey at the Washington College of Law has written an interesting article about a copyright suit by the Authors Guild against quite a few state universities here in the U.S. Apparently, a bunch of authors, many foreign, are unhappy about a digital archive of library materials including, allegedly, books written by the author-plaintiffs. Without… Continue Reading
Copyright Protection for Software: More Money
Posted in Interesting Cases, Software ProtectionI’ve mentioned before that you should be seriously considering copyright protection for your software either in addition to patent protection, or as an alternative if you don’t already have patent protection. Again, you get copyright protection automatically, without the exorbitant expense and delay associated with patent protection. Also, there is the possibility for greater money… Continue Reading
Copyright Infringement Damages: Why Is Sony Really Suing Joel Tenenbaum?
Posted in Interesting CasesJoel Tenenbaum is a student pursuing a PhD. He does what lots of students do, listens to music. Apparently Joel also downloads some of that music off the Internet without paying. Sony (and others) found out and sued him. Joel chose to fight the suit and enlisted the help of law professor Charles Nesson. Apparently… Continue Reading
Perfect your Copyright: Register Your Photographs!
Posted in Interesting Cases, RegistrationI have mentioned before that registering your copyright before infringement occurs gains you some very significant benefits. If you are a photographer in the digital age, that lesson should be especially dear. If you don’t want to believe me, then take the advice of Jeremy Nicholl, a British photographer based in Moscow who specializes in… Continue Reading
Copyright Abuse by Ira Raises Ire of Judge Zimmerman
Posted in I.P. Address Suits, Interesting CasesMost of us are aware of what I call the IP address suits, where a plaintiff files a lawsuit against large numbers of IP addresses (or “John Does”) and then tries to extort settlements that are substantial yet still less than the cost of fighting the lawsuit. Down in the Northern District of California, it… Continue Reading
Hell’s Angels Sues T-Shirt Maker For Copyright Infringement
Posted in Interesting CasesThe term “damages” has new meaning when it’s being sought by the Hell’s Angels. CBS is reporting that T-Shirt maker Wildfox Couture has been sued for copyright infringement by the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club over a t-shirt made by the company that reads: “My Boyfriend s A Hells Angel.” The club’s lawyer says that even… Continue Reading
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