Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
Recently, several clients with existing websites asked me to review their online Terms of Use (“TOU”). While the TOU were respectable, there were areas where each could be improved. Interestingly, the...
View ArticleHow Websites can Avoid Liability for User-provided Content
Two U.S. District Court cases – Io Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc. (8/27/2008) and UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc. (9/11/2009) – offer a recipe by which Internet-based service providers...
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Ralph Lauren’s Abuse of DMCA Backfires
This Ralph Lauren ad has been making the rounds of the Internet and television, recently. The reason: Photo retouching to the point of absurdity, producing a supermodel (Filippa Hamilton) who looks...
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Louis Vuitton Wins $10.8 Million from ISPs
On August 28, a federal court jury awarded Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. $32.4 million in a suit against two Internet Service Providers and their owner for trademark and copyright infringement. The...
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Autodesk Wins: Software License Restrictions Trump “First Sale” Doctrine
Update: On September 10, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in Vernor v. Autodesk) reversed the District Count decision discussed below. Supporting software licensors’ reasonable...
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Fair Use, Trash Talk, and the DMCA
Over the weekend, I answered a LinkedIn question about whether posting a copyrighted photo of another company’s product with disparaging comments about that product might be protected by the “fair...
View ArticleServices
This page is an Advertisement under Rule of Professional Conduct 1-400, Standard 5. Dana Shultz provides the essential legal services that startup and early-stage companies in the San Francisco...
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If You Provide a DMCA Takedown Notice, Provide It Properly
In Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) I described the six elements that a copyright owner must include in a “takedown notice” sent to a service provider that is hosting...
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DMCA Takedown: How Soon is “Expeditiously”?
A client’s former employee / co-founder departed to form a competing business. Violating the client’s copyrights, he posted dozens of the client’s images on his website and blog. I sent takedown...
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Fraudulent Takedown Notice Leads to $25,000 Judgment
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the author of a fraudulent takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to pay more than...
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Consider Fair Use Before Sending DMCA Takedown Notice
This post is based on a recent federal appellate case, Lenz v. Universal Music. That case held that one must consider fair use as a possible defense for an online service provider before sending a...
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What is a DMCA Counter Notification?
Screen shot from YouTube counter notification tutorial In Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), I discussed DMCA provisions pertaining to takedown notices. This post discusses...
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DMCA Designated Agent List Going Online
The U.S. Copyright Office maintains designated agent records under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The Office recently announced that will be moving from paper to an online system. DMCA...
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Louis Vuitton Wins $10.8 Million from ISPs
On August 28, a federal court jury awarded Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. $32.4 million in a suit against two Internet Service Providers and their owner. The suit alleged trademark and copyright...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Autodesk Wins: Software License Restrictions Trump “First Sale” Doctrine
Update: On September 10, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in Vernor v. Autodesk) reversed the District Count decision discussed below. Supporting software licensors’ reasonable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fair Use, Trash Talk, and the DMCA
Over the weekend, I answered a LinkedIn question [no longer available there because LinkedIn ended its Q&A feature] about whether posting a copyrighted photo of another company’s product with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Legal Services
This description of Dana Shultz’s legal services is an Advertisement under Rule of Professional Conduct 1-400, Standard 5 (now subject to Chapter 7 of the Rules of Professional Conduct that took...
View ArticleClik here to view.
If You Provide a DMCA Takedown Notice, Provide It Properly
In Terms of Use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) I described the six elements that a copyright owner must include in a DMCA takedown notice sent to a service provider that is hosting...
View ArticleClik here to view.
DMCA Takedown: How Soon is “Expeditiously”?
A client’s former employee / co-founder departed to form a competing business. Violating the client’s copyrights, he posted dozens of the client’s images on his website and blog. I sent takedown...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fraudulent Takedown Notice Leads to $25,000 Judgment
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ordered the author of a fraudulent takedown notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to pay more than...
View Article