Friday, February 25, 2011

Moving Targets

UPDATE: The lawsuits brought for allegations of illegal downloads of the movie “The Hurt Locker” are moving forward. Last year, the U.S. Copyright Group filed a copyright infringement complaint with a federal court in Washington D.C., naming 5,000 unidentified defendants.

Earlier this month, the Copyright Group filed multiple additional complaints for infringement of the movie across the country. Unlike their previous lawsuit, these lawsuits name individual Defendants.

The lawsuits were also filed in courts that have jurisdiction in the areas where the alleged illegal downloading occurred. There are several different venues: federal courts in Massachusetts (where a favorable judgment in the music downloading context already took place), Minnesota (where the Jammie Thomas music download case resulted in favorable jury results for copyright holders) and Colorado, among others.

News reports indicate that the individuals named in the lawsuits are those who previously refused to settle with Plaintiffs. (The reports indicate offers for settlement in the $1,500-$3,000 range.)

Will these lawsuits move forward? Will Defendants settle now that they have been named in lawsuits?

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

UFC Grapples with Justin.tv over Live-Streaming of Events

Zuffa, Inc., the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship has filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Nevada for copyright infringement against Justin.tv. Justin.tv is a website that allows for the streaming of live video through its web portal.

UFC alleges that its pay-per view events are being broadcast on Justin.tv. UFC hired third party vendors to send petitions to take down over 200 video feeds of the October 23, 2010 pay-per view event UFC 121. According to news reports, UFC claims that over 50,000 watched illegal streaming video of UFC 121.

Justin.tv has a terms of use which includes DMCA takedown notices. UFC alleges that Justin.tv’s response has been inadequate. According to a press relase on the UFC website, Zuffa contacted Justin.tv several times over almost a two-year span in attempts to prevent illegal uploading.

It seems likely that Justin.tv is likely to rely on the DMCA safe-harbor provision similar to the arguments made by YouTube in the Viacom lawsuit.