- FIRST SALE FRENZY: On June 7, 2010 the Ninth Circuit will hear appeals in UMG Recordings Inc. v. Augusto, a first sale case involving promotional sound recordings sold on Ebay; Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc., a first sale case involving software; and MDY Indus. V. Blizzard Entertainment, a first sale case involving software code in World of Warcraft video game.
- Google filed for declaratory judgment claiming DMCA protection claiming that Google timely removed and/or disabled links to Plaintiff’s DMCA takedown notice where Plaintiff, a record company alleged and filed a previous suit for contributory and vicarious copyright infringement when RapidShare links appeared in internet searches on Google and Microsoft search engines. Plaintiff previously contested that Google and Microsoft responded to the DMCA takedown letter. The case raises issues about responses to DMCA takedown notices as well as the boundaries of contributory and vicarious copyright infringement.
- In a case initially filed in the Southern District of New York and recently transferred to Central District of California, over 40 photographers, owners of photography copyrights and the organization that operates the San Diego Zoo are seeking more than $11 million in damages from the fast-food chain Taco Bell for copyright infringement.
Not one oral hearing on first sale doctrine but 3 – in the same day in the Ninth Circuit.
The Plaintiffs claim that 4 ecology-themed DVDs distributed along with Taco Bell’s “Kid’s Meal” menu items contained over 100 images that were used without authorization or compensation to the copyright owners. The subject images were licensed to SNAP TV Inc. by the wildlife-specialty stock photo agency Minden Pictures. The Complaint alleges that Minden has been unable to get SNAP TV to pay for its license and thus SNAP TV’s use of the images and by extension Taco Bell’s distribution of over 2 million DVDs containing these images constitutes copyright infringement.
Plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages as well as Taco Bell’s profits attributable to the alleged infringement. However, as the Complaint points out, these DVDs are promotional items which were distributed along with Taco Bell’s “Kid’s Meals” menu items. If the DVDs were given away for free, as is done with most Kid’s Meals at fast food chains, then there is not basis for computing profits attributable to their distribution—because there are none. Should they prevail upon their copyright claims, Plaintiffs may be better served by seeking statutory damages.
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