Obodai v. Demand Media, Inc.

Summarized by:

  • Court: Intellectual Property Archives
  • Area(s) of Law: Copyright
  • Date Filed: 06-13-2012
  • Case #: 11 Civ. 2503
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Castel
  • Full Text Opinion

Conforming to the DMCA's safe harbor provision protects a service provider from committing contributory copyright infringement.

Opinion (Castel): Demand Media (Demand) operates Cracked.com, a content hosting website. Demand has a policy of canceling user accounts if it receives multiple copyright complaints about a particular user’s activity. Cracked.com user “socialway” posted 32 items, for which Austin Obadai (Obadai) held the copyrights. Obadai brought suit against Demand Media claiming direct, vicarious, and contributory copyright infringement. Demand moved for summary judgment on the grounds that they are protected by the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Demand qualified as a service provider under the DMCA, had an established repeat offender policy, and did not prevent the use of “standard technical methods,” as proscribed by the DMCA. The Court therefore GRANTED Demand’s motion for summary judgment.

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