Copyright Blog

Great Minds v. FedEx, 16-CV-1462 (E.D.N.Y. 2016)

Israel v. University of Utah, 15-cv-00741 (D. Utah 2015)

Highsmith v. Getty Images (US), Inc., et al, 16-cv-05924 (S.D.N.Y. 2016)

Bell v. Indiana University, 16-cv-2463 (S.D. Ind. 2016)

Sohm v. McGraw-Hill, 16-cv-4255

Kelly v. University Press of Mississippi, 16-cv-02960 (C.D. Cal.)

Cambridge University Press, et al. v. Becker, et al., 08-cv-1425 (N.D. Ga. 2016)

Dr. Charles Nettleman, a former adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against the university on July 27, 2016. Dr. Nettleman’s complaint alleges that the university copied his teaching materials, such as slides, lab exercises, quizzes, exams, etc., and distributed the materials through the university’s learning management system, without his consent. In fact, Dr. Nettleman asserts that he expressly declined a request from another professor seeking permission to use his materials, only to discover later that the materials were being used anyway. Nettleman is asking the court to issue an injunction preventing the university from using his materials and to award him an unspecified amount of damages. A copy of the complaint is available here.

David Lowery filed a class action lawsuit against the music streaming service Spotify on December 28, 2015, seeking $150 million in damages. Lowery is the leader of the bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven and a leading advocate for musicians’ rights. His complaint alleges that Spotify makes many songs available for streaming without obtaining permission or paying appropriate license fees.

On December 17, 2015, a jury found Cox Communications liable for willful copyright infringement and ordered the company to pay $25 million in damages to BMG. The court found that Cox could not rely on the safe harbor provisions available to Internet Service Providers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), because it failed to terminate service to its subscribers who were repeat infringers. As a result, the jury found that Cox contributed to the copyright infringement of its customers and was liable for such infringement.

The entrance to our office has moved! Visitors can now reach us by coming through the main entrances—including the new south entrance—to Harold B. Lee Library. We can no longer be reached through our old entrance on the west patio of the library.