Utah-Based Phlebotomy School Accused of Using Training Videos in Classes Without Authorization
In January of 2025, The Center for Phlebotomy Education Inc. (the "Center") filed a Complaint against Dallas Rasmussen, the owner and operator of Oquirrh Mountain Phlebotomy School LLC ("OMPS"). OMPS operates phlebotomy schools in Utah, Colorado, and Oregon. The Center alleges that Rasmussen, on behalf of OMPS, has been systematically stealing and displaying at the OMPS schools a copyrighted video training series created by the Center for licensing and sale to Phlebotomy schools.
As evidence of the infringement, the Center included pictures, apparently taken surreptitiously by a student of the class, of an OMPS instructor showing one of their copyrighted videos to a classroom of students. Ironically, the video as shown in the photos still included the FBI copyright and piracy warning at the beginning.
OMPS has yet to respond to the Complaint, so we can only speculate what defenses are available in light of photographic evidence of the alleged infringement. A claim of fair use for educational purposes might be weak in the shadow of Goldsmith v. Warhol, considering the use directly subverts the intended market of the infringed material. Notable about this case is that Dallas Rasmussen is being named as a defendant himself, despite having structured these schools as limited liability companies ("LLCs"). Normally, the owners and employees of an LLC are protected from personal lawsuits filed against their company (hence the "Limited Liability"). Rasmussen might address this issue in his response to the Complaint to protect himself personally from this lawsuit.
We will provide updates for this case as they become available.