Free for a Fee

This case involves a LiveJournal blog called “Oh No They Didn’t!” (ONTD) that republishes reader submissions about celebrity gossip. There are nine moderators of the blog, including one–Brian Delzer–who became a LiveJournal employee.

Unsurprisingly given the blog’s subject, readers submitted celebrity photos copyrighted by third parties, including seven sets of photos allegedly from Mavrix, a litigious photo agency. For reasons the opinion doesn’t explain, Mavrix never sent LiveJournal any DMCA 512(c)(3) takedown notices over the photos. Instead, Mavrix just sued LiveJournal. LiveJournal treated the complaint as a 512(c)(3) takedown notice, removed the photos and terminated two users as repeat infringers.

LiveJournal decisively wins summary judgment on 512(c) grounds.

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The content in this post was found at http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2014/09/livejournal-wins-512c-safe-harbor-ruling-for-celebrity-gossip-blog-mavrix-v-livejournal.htm and was not authored by the moderators of freeforafee.com. Clicking the title link will take you to the source of the post.