Tag Archives: Copyright Infringement

Dallas Buyers Club BitTorrent Lawsuits Filed Against 80 John Doe Defendants

09 Wednesday Jul 2014

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

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4 new BitTorrent download cases, with 80 John Doe defendants, have been filed in Indiana involving the film Dallas Buyers Club. Each lawsuit has one claim of copyright infringement.

Dallas Buyers Club LLC v. Does 1-24
Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-01145-WTL-MJD
File Date: Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Keith A. Vogt of Takiguchi & Vogt LLP
Defendant: Does 1-24
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore

Dallas Buyers Club LLC v. Does 1-20
Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-01144-JMS-MJD
File Date: Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Keith A. Vogt of Takiguchi & Vogt LLP
Defendant: Does 1-20
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore

Dallas Buyers Club LLC v. Does 1-20
Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-01142-SEB-DML
File Date: Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Keith A. Vogt of Takiguchi & Vogt LLP
Defendant: Does 1-20
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Debra McVicker Lynch

Dallas Buyers Club LLC v. Does 1-16
Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-01141-WTL-MJD
File Date: Tuesday, July 08, 2014
Plaintiff: Dallas Buyers Club LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Keith A. Vogt of Takiguchi & Vogt LLP
Defendant: Does 1-16
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore

Representative Complaint:

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates v. Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation

21 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

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Plaintiff is the owner of the copyright in a model of cultural competency titled “Cultural Competency in Healthcare Delivery: Have I ‘ASKED’ Myself the Right Questions?”. Defendants, teachers for Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, allegedly used a portion of Plaintiff’s model without permission in a PowerPoint presentation entitled “Culturally Competent Classroom Management” (see Exhibit C below).

The PowerPoint presentation was apparently part of New Teacher Orientation materials. While the Complaint doesn’t elaborate, it’s quite possible the Defendants’ use will qualify for a “fair use” exemption from copyright infringement. Copyright Act Section 107 specifically exempts uses of copyrighted works for, among other things, teaching and scholarship. Defendants’ Answer and/or Motion to Dismiss should provide more detailed information about their use of the Plaintiff’s copyrighted work. Stay tuned for updates.

Josepha Campinha-Bacote d/b/a Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates v. Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation et al

Court Case Number: 3:14-cv-00056-RLY-WGH
File Date: Friday, April 18, 2014
Plaintiff: Josepha Campinha-Bacote d/b/a Transcultural C.A.R.E. Associates
Plaintiff Counsel: Avonte D. Campinha-Bacote of Campinha-Bacote LLP
Defendant: Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation, Dionne Blue, Deborah Hartz
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Richard L. Young
Referred To: Magistrate Judge William G. Hussmann, Jr.

Complaint:

Exhibit C:

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – Richard N. Bell v. Diversified Vehicle Services et al

08 Tuesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Southern District of Indiana

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INDY SKYLINEThe Plaintiff in this copyright lawsuit is an attorney and professional photographer living in McCordsville, Indiana. In 2000, Plaintiff took two photographs of the downtown Indianapolis skyline from a location on the Canal near the USS Indianapolis Memorial. Both of Plaintiff’s photographs were duly registered with the U.S. Copyright Office and posted on the Internet in August 2000. All of the various defendants have allegedly utilized Plaintiff’s photographs on their respective websites without permission.

Website owners, you should immediately check your websites to determine whether you know the source of EVERY photograph. Unless you’re certain that you have permission to use the photographs (or qualify for some exception to copyright infringement like fair use), remove/replace the photographs at once. These photograph copyright lawsuits have been occurring for far too long to continue to plead ignorance or innocent infringement. Take your own photographs, hire a photographer or license existing photographs. But don’t get caught in a lawsuit because you take the easy way out and grab an image from Google.

Whatever you do, definitely don’t use Plaintiff’s photographs…he has a long history of litigation to enforce his copyrights:

Richard N. Bell v. Mark Arruda

Bell v. Indy Cleaning Pros

Richard N. Bell v. Greg Bayers LLC et al.

Richard N. Bell v. Jerry Gordon et al.

Richard Bell v. Cameron Taylor et al.

Richard N. Bell v. Diversified Vehicle Services et al

Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-00525
File Date: Monday, April 07, 2014
Plaintiff: Richard N. Bell
Plaintiff Counsel: Richard N. Bell – Pro Se
Defendant: Diversified Vehicle Services, Cameron Taylor, Taylor Computer Solutions, Rhonda Williams, Forensic Solutions Inc., Heath Garrett, Crestacom Inc., American Traveler Service Corp. LLC, Mike Cowper, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Easystreet Realty Indianapolis, Drohan Management, Metal Markets, Mattison Corporation, Industrial Heating Equipment Association, Junk Dawgs, Kimberly Hinds
Cause: Copyright Infringement, Unfair Competition, Theft
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Sarah Evans Barker
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Denise K. LaRue

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – Countryman Nevada v. Does 1-16

27 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana

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They’re back! Just when you thought the BitTorrent download cases had stopped in Indiana, Nicoletti is back with a new lawsuit involving “Charlie Countryman,” a film starring Shia LaBeouf, Rupert Grint and Evan Rachel Wood. The film was released November 15, 2013 in the United States to largely negative reviews. Having failed at the box office, the producers have apparently turned to lawyers to recoup some of their costs from the 16 Hoosiers unlucky enough to have (allegedly) downloaded the film.

Countryman Nevada LLC v. Does 1-16

Court Case Number: 1:14-cv-00019-RLM-RBC
File Date: Friday, January 24, 2014
Plaintiff: Countryman Nevada LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Paul J. Nicoletti of Nicoletti & Associates PLLC
Defendant: Does 1-16
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Robert L. Miller, Jr.
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Roger B. Cosbey

Indiana Copyright Litigation Update – National Photo Group v. Federated Media et al

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by in Copyright, Indiana, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Northern District of Indiana

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This litigation involves the unauthorized use of celebrity photographs on a Fort Wayne country radio station’s website.

K105 Pictures

The lawsuit should serve as a reminder/warning to everyone operating a commercial website to only use photographs that:

  1. You own; or
  2. You have permission to use; or
  3. Are in the public domain.

This means going back through old pages and posts and removing/replacing unauthorized images. Failure to do this can result in expensive copyright litigation. If you have any questions about the photographs on your site, err on the side of caution and remove them until you’re able to properly determine ownership.

National Photo Group LLC v. Federated Media Inc. et al

Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-01405-PPS-CAN
File Date: Thursday, December 26, 2013
Plaintiff: National Photo Group LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Craig B. Sanders of Sanders Law PLLC
Defendant: Federated Media Inc., WQHK-FM
Cause: Direct Copyright Infringement, Contributory Copyright Infringement, Vicarious Copyright Infringement, Inducement of Copyright Infringement, Injunction, Attorney Fees and Costs
Court: Northern District of Indiana
Judge: Chief Judge Philip P. Simon
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Christopher A. Nuechterlein