Tag Archives: DMCA

Oregon Department of Corrections sues over YouTube prison video

26 Friday Feb 2016

Posted by in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Social Media

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The State of Oregon, via the Department of Corrections, claims to be the exclusive owner of all intellectual property rights in a video entitled “Prison Cell Extraction,” showing the techniques to remove a prisoner from a cell. Defendant somehow obtained the video and posted it on YouTube.

Upon learning of the posting, the State of Oregon initiated a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) takedown request with YouTube to remove the video, and the video was initially removed by YouTube.

Screen Shot 2016-02-26 at 10.47.45 AMDefendant then filed a DMCA counter notification with YouTube, swearing under penalty of perjury that the video was removed by YouTube due to a mistake or misidentification on the basis that “its my video of me”.

YouTube informed the State of Oregon of the counter notification with instructions that if the State of Oregon did not “file an action seeking a court order to restrain the counter notifier’s allegedly infringing activity” the video could be reinstated on YouTube.

Hence, this lawsuit. Stay tuned for updates.

State of Oregon v. Ames

Court Case Number: 6:2016-cv-00345
File Date: Thursday, February 25, 2016
Plaintiff: State of Oregon
Plaintiff Counsel:Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General
Defendant: Ames
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: Thomas M. Coffin

Complaint:

Divergence: Online developer files lawsuit over fraudulent DMCA takedown

11 Thursday Feb 2016

Posted by in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon

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Here’s a case of first impression in Oregon. Plaintiff, developer of the popular online game Divergence: Online, has brought an action against a disgruntled designer for a violation of 17 U.S.C. § 512(f). In other words, Plaintiff claims that Defendant filed a fraudulent DMCA takedown notice. The allegedly false takedown notice had resulted in Plaintiff’s game being removed from Steam (a game distribution platform) for several days, costing Plaintiff “potentially thousands of dollars in sales.”

As general information, a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Takedown is a procedure by which copyright owners can have infringing content removed from a website by providing notice to the internet service provider/hosting company. 512(f) was included in the DMCA to prevent fraudulent takedown reports, but it has rarely been enforced until recently. Copyright owners making a false DMCA notice are responsible for “any damages” incurred as a result of their action.

The Steam takedown (and eventual return) made gaming news and this lawsuit will likely do the same, as fraudulent DMCA takedowns have become a recurring problem in the online realm. Last year saw the first-ever award of damages for a fraudulent DMCA takedown under 512(f).

Stay tuned for updates.

512(f)

Stained Glass Llama, Corp. v. Bonner

Court Case Number: 3:16-cv-00253-MO
File Date: Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Plaintiff: Stained Glass Llama, Corp.
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Drew P. Taylor of Crowell Law
Defendant: Robert William Bonner
Cause: Violation of 17 U.S.C. § 512(f) (False DMCA Notice)
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: Michael W. Mosman

Complaint: