Court Rules That Software License Transfers Ownership By Kate Wevers – Edited by Anthony Kammer Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc., No. C07-1189RAJ (W.D. Wash., Sept. 30, 2009) Opinion On September 30, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington granted, in part, Vernor’s motion for summary judgment against Autodesk.After Autodesk became aware of Vernor’s attempts to sell copies of its copyrighted software, AutoCAD, on eBay, it invoked the takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, causing Vernor ... Read More...
Archive for the ‘District Courts’ Category
By Andrew Jacobs ISPs Found Liable for Websites’ Trademark and Copyright Infringement Computerworld and Ars Technica report that on August 28, a federal jury handed down a $32.4 million judgment against two ISPs that hosted websites selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton products. Louis Vuitton successfully argued on a theory of contributory infringement, overcoming the ISPs’ claims of immunity under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s “safe harbor” provisions. Evidence that the ISPs had received and failed to respond to notices of the ... Read More...
Conviction in Lori Drew MySpace Case Thrown Out By Vera Ranieri – Edited by Amanda Rice United States v. Drew, No. CR 08-0582-GW (C.D. Cal. Aug. 28, 2009) Opinion On August 28, 2009, Judge Wu of the Central District of California released a written opinion outlining his reasons for granting Lori Drew’s FRCP 29(c) motion for a post-verdict acquittal, a decision he had initially announced in early July. Judge Wu’s decision overturned the jury’s conviction of Lori Drew for violating ... Read More...
By Evan Kubota Microsoft, Yahoo, Amazon Join Opposition to Google Settlement The New York Times reports that Microsoft, Yahoo, and Amazon have joined library associations, nonprofits, and individuals in opposing the Google Books settlement in The Authors Guild v. Google. The settlement, which would allow Google to provide digital versions of millions of books, still requires court approval and remains the subject of a Department of Justice antitrust investigation. The opposition group, tentatively called the Open Book Alliance, will argue ... Read More...
Mum’s the Word for Microsoft’s XML Functionality By Jad Mills – Edited by Evelyn Breithaupt i4i L.P. v. Microsoft Corp., No. 6:07CV113 (E.D. Texas Aug. 18, 2009). Final Judgment and Injunction On August 11, 2009, Judge Davis of the Eastern District of Texas entered final judgment awarding i4i L.P., a Canadian company, approximately $290 million in damages and interest for Microsoft’s willful infringement of i4i’s XML patent. The court also issued a permanent injunction ordering Microsoft to stop selling Word ... Read More...
