By Adam Lewin Damages Reinstated by First Circuit in Tenenbaum / RIAA Suit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reinstated a $675,000 jury verdict entered against Joel Tenenbaum for copyright infringement of 30 sound recordings accomplished using file-sharing software. At trial, the jury determined that Tenenbaum was guilty of willful infringement and awarded the plaintiff record companies statutory damages of $22,500 for each song as permitted under 17 U.S.C. § 104(c). Judge Nancy Gertner of the ... Read More...
Archive for September, 2011
Written by Raquel Acosta Edited by Albert Wang and Vicki Blohm Editorial Policy I. Introduction The current copyright framework is becoming obsolete as we try to make a digital world run on an analog legal system. The Copyright Act covers “original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be visually perceived, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” 17 U.S.C. § 401. The ability of ... Read More...
Second Circuit Rules First Sale Doctrine Only Applies to Goods Manufactured Domestically By Heather Whitney – Edited by Chinh Vo John Wiley & Sons v. Kirtsaeng, No. 09-4896-cv (2d Cir. Aug. 15, 2011) Slip Opinion After the Supreme Court’s non-precedential decision in Costco v. Omega, 131 S.Ct. 565 (2010), it is no surprise that the nexus of the first sale doctrine and works manufactured outside of the United States remains in flux. In Wiley, the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment ... Read More...
By Andrew Crocker AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Blocked by Justice Department The New York Times reports that the Justice Department is seeking to prevent the proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, which are respectively the second and fourth largest mobile carriers in the United States. In a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Justice Department stated that the merger would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless marketplace and lead to price increases. According to Bloomberg ... Read More...
Federal Circuit Invalidates Software Patent As Mere Mental Process By Albert Wang – Edited by Chinh Vo CyberSource Corporation v. Retail Decisions, Inc., No. 2009-1358 (Fed. Cir. August 16, 2011) Slip Opinion The Federal Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the Northern District of California’s grant of summary judgment, agreeing that plaintiff CyberSource’s patents were invalid for ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Dyk held that CyberSource’s method of verifying ... Read More...
