DMCA Does Not Provide Safe Harbor from Copyright Infringement in All Cases

The United States Court of Appeals for the 2^nd circuit recently overturned a district court decision in Viacom International Inc. et al v. YouTube Inc et al, No. 10-3270, and a companion case of The Football Association Premier League Ltd et al v. YouTube Inc, No. 10-3342.  While the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) typically provides a safe harbor from copyright infringement liability for websites which post third party content such as YouTube, the 2^nd circuit found that there was a potential jury issue as to whether or not YouTube fell outside the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  Instances where a website host or owner loses its DMCA immunity include:

1. When the website operator has actual knowledge of specific copyright infringement;
2. Where the website operator has “red flag” awareness of specific instances of copyright infringement;
3. When the website operator demonstrates “willful blindness” in allowing copyrighted videos or other content to remain on its website.

You can read more about the lawsuit here and the court’s full ruling is embedded below. 

Ask a Copyright Infringement Lawyer: How Do I Protect My Copyright?

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

Play: Ask a Copyright Infringement Lawyer How Do I Protect My Copyright
(click title to listen)

With: Enrico Schaefer

Sponsored by: Traverse Copyright Law

---

Read Show Transcript

Publish to My Site

Share on My Networks

---

powered by Vertio.net

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio.  My name is Copyright Attorney Enrico Schaefer.  I am a copyright lawyer with the law firm of Traverse Legal.  Every once in a while we’ll go ahead and answer some questions that we get online off of the internet about copyright issues, and today the question is:  How do I protect my copyright from infringement?  A good copyright infringement lawyer knows that it’s one thing to own a copyright (it is one thing to be the author of an original work), it’s a whole different thing to protect that copyright from infringement, especially with the advent of the internet, because everything now is cut and paste.  Everything is grabbing content from one place and putting in another.  It is so easy to take someone’s photograph or written words or artwork and put them onto my website.

Copyright License Termination: The Clock is Ticking

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

This is Brian Hall, an attorney with Traverse Legal, PLC; a law firm that handles copyright litigation and copyright matters throughout the United States.  Today, I will be addressing an issue that it coming up for the first time in the history of copyright law.

Play: Copyright License Termination: The Clock is Ticking
(click title to listen)

With: Brian A. Hall

Sponsored by: Traverse Copyright Law

---

Read Show Transcript

Publish to My Site

Share on My Networks

---

powered by Vertio.net

What Can I Do If a Large Company Uses My Copyright Protected Work without Permission?

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio.  My name is Copyright Attorney Enrico Schaefer.  Today, we are going to talk about an issue that comes up all the time.  An artist or author, otherwise known as the little guy, who produces or authors a piece of original work and the work ends up getting used by a large company without permission.

Play: What Can I Do If a Large Company Uses My Copyright Protected Work without Permission?
(click title to listen)

With: Enrico Schaefer

Sponsored by: Traverse Copyright Law

---

Read Show Transcript

Publish to My Site

Share on My Networks

---

powered by Vertio.net

Website Copyright Ownership

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

This is Brian Hall a copyright attorney with Traverse Legal, PLC, a law firm that represents those involved in copyright disputes throughout the United States.

Copyrights are being violated every day on the internet. Copyright owners and their attorneys struggle to keep up with the constant violation. You can't file a lawsuit or assert a copyright claim against everyone. A good copyright attorney will help you understand which instances of copyright infringement create real risk for you online, and be ready to answer the question on how much it will cost to pursue them.

Section 230 Immunity Provides Protection from Defamation Claim Made Against Amazon.com

Defending yourself against a defamation lawsuit when you are a content publisher typically involves a defense of Section 230 Immunity under the Communications Decency Act (CDA).  In the case Parisi v. Sinclair, 2011 WL 1206193 (D.C. D.C. March 31, 2011), Amazon and other book publishers were able to successfully file a motion to dismiss against the plaintiff, dismissing the internet defamation-based claims under Section 203 of the CDA, and the remaining claims (offline book sales) because they did not act with the required malice.  You can check out the rest of Eric Goldman's analysis of the case in his post, "Online Booksellers Get 47 USC 230 Immunity for Publisher-Supplied Marketing Collateral--Parisi v. Sinclair."

What Can I Do About Defamation of Character on the Internet?

My name is Enrico Schaefer, welcome to Defamation Law Radio. We get this question a lot “What can I do about defamation of character on the internet?”  When you believe you’ve been defamed online, there are a number of different strategies that you can put in place in order to try and either minimize the problem or resolve the problem, but the variables are extensive. 

Internet defamation comes in so many different forms and in so many varieties.  It is propagated across so many types of websites.  So, if you have been the victim, or you believe you’ve been the victim of internet-based defamation of character, the first thing you need to do is do a proper assessment of your situation. 

Play: What Can I Do About Defamation of Character on the Internet?
(click title to listen)

With: Enrico Schaefer

Sponsored by: Traverse Defamation Law

---

Read Show Transcript

Publish to My Site

Share on My Networks

---

powered by Vertio.net

Can I Sue for Character Defamation on the Internet?

Welcome to Defamation Law Radio.  My name is Enrico Schaefer, and today we’re going to discuss online defamation, internet libel and host of other issues related to defamation, libel and slander. 

We have recently discussed at length the issue of “should I sue for defamation of character?” but there’s an even more threshold issue that you need to consider.  And that is, can I sue for internet defamation of character?  Before you step into court, you need to assess your matter in detail.  These are always fact-specific issues, and the last thing you want to do is spend attorney’s fees pursuing a case that was never a case.  Before you take a litigation case to trial, whether it’s defamation or otherwise, you need to start with a strategy document. 

Play: Can I Sue for Character Defamation on the Internet?
(click title to listen)

With: Enrico Schaefer

Sponsored by: Traverse Defamation Law

---

Read Show Transcript

Publish to My Site

Share on My Networks

---

powered by Vertio.net

Defamation on the Internet & the Constitutional Right to Post Anonymously. Michigan Court Will Decide....

Identifying an anonymous blogger or author of a comment on a website in an internet defamation case presents challenges for plaintiffs, defendants and the court.  The plaintiff in a defamation lawsuit, of course, wants to identify the person who they believe engaged in online libel or slander, idneitifed int eh COmplaint as John Doe.  But there is a constitutional right attaching to anonymous speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.  Thus, the person whose speech is alleged to be defamatory may have a constitutional right to remain anonymous.  Courts in John Doe litigation are typically asked by plaintiff's attoreny is an ex parte fashion to allow discovery necessary to “identify” the John Doe defendant in the case.  

In this interview of Paul Allen Levy, attorney for Public Citizen, we explore the so-called “Dendrite rule” and its potential application in Michigan to defamation cases.    States that have applied a heightened standard of showing by plaintiffs in defamation cases in order to identify anonymous John Doe defendants include:  Maryland, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Tennessee, New York, California, Connecticut, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and potentially Michigan in the near term.

• Doe subpoena - Wikipedia Definition
• Click here for more information on legal protections for anonymous speech. 
• [Proposed] Memorandum of Public Citizen as Amicus Curiae Supporting Doe’s Motion to Quash or For Protective Order.
• Defamation Lawsuit Filed in Michigan by Cooley Law School against Ex-Student.

 

Play: Defamation on the Internet & the Constitutional Right to Post Anonymously. Michigan Court Will Decide....
(click title to listen)

With: Paul Alan Levy

Sponsored by: Traverse Defamation Law

---

Read Show Transcript

Publish to My Site

Share on My Networks

---

powered by Vertio.net