Here is a new tactic that I have not yet come across in my practice. Apparently, lawyers for copyright holders who are “sick and tired” of having their works illegally downloaded for free are working with internet service providers (ISPs) to send emails to alleged infringers with a paragraph that states, “If you click on […]
Lately, I have been keeping myself busy working on behalf of individuals who have been targeted as John Does by film companies based on claims of internet copyright infringement. Typically, my clients have had their internet service providers (ISPs) subpoenaed so that the film companies can scrap personal information attached to the John Does’ IP […]
French Englightenment writer, historian and philosopher François-Marie Arouet (also known as Voltaire) once stated, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” If Voltaire were alive today, he would likely be very displeased that many institutions of higher education are banning certain groups of athletes from […]
23,322 defendants were named in what, at the time of filing, was the largest file-sharing copyright infringement lawsuit ever. It was based on the accusation that those defendants illegally downloaded the movie The Expendables. However, at least for now, a vast majority of those defendants are free from the reach of the movie’s film studio […]
You may notice that at the beginning of the video, Christie Rampone is wearing what looks to be a U.S. Soccer Women’s National Team uniform. Christie Rampone is featured in such a uniform much more clearly in a few print advertisements, which the United States Soccer Federation is not happy about. On July 27, 2011, the […]
In our world of increasing online copyright infringement claims, there are more and more people who are being accused of infringing activity who happen to be completely innocent with regards to the accusations. While it is smart for people to password protect their wireless routers, many fail to do so, which allows anyone to latch […]
Compare that video with the South Park parody video, below. South Park displayed that clip in one of its episodes which aired in 2008. Late last year, Brownmark Films, which produced the original non-parody video, sued Viacom and Comedy Central for airing the clip. The suit contended that the airing of the parody amounted to copyright infringement. […]
Bradley University may once again find itself as a named defendant in a case involving its basketball program. Approximately 2 months ago, I wrote about Kent State’s lawsuit against men’s basketball coach Geno Ford based on Ford’s refusal to pay Kent State $1.2 million the school believes it is owed according to Ford’s buyout clause in his former […]
Pornography. A lot of people watch it. A lot of pornography that is watched is not illegally obtained. However, you can almost be sure that if you are downloading pornography through a BitTorrent client, you obtaining a movie for free that the copyright holder wants you to pay for. Such an act is illegal. Pornographic […]
A company called Righthaven LLC has been very busy filing lawsuits on behalf of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Denver Post based on a claim that others are stealing published information from the papers, which supposedly amounts to copyright infringement. At last count, Righthaven has filed a total of 275 lawsuits without providing any advance warning to […]