3 Count: Return to Sender

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1: Another Judge Slams Prenda Over Porn-Download Lawsuits

First off today, Emma Woollacott at Forbes reports that Minnesota Federal Judge Franklin Noel has ordered controversial copyright “troll” organization Prenda Law to hand back settlements, ranging between $3,500 and $6,000 plus defendant costs, after failing to prove that their “client”, AF Holdings, actually holds the copyrights to the works they originally sued over.

Prenda became well known for filing massive lawsuits against people illegally downloaded pornographic films over BitTorrent, with the hopes of procuring a quick settlement. Those films were supposedly owned by AF Holdings but, as defendants began to fight back, allegations of improper action, including accusations of identity theft and that Prenda’s clients were really shell companies for lawyers at the firm, caused the cases to unravel.

In this case, AF Holdings was unable to prove it actually held the copyright over two adult films, “Popular Demand” and “Sexual Obsession”. The court order represents the first time Prenda has been ordered to hand over money received in settlements.

2: Photographer Awarded $1.6 Million Dollars in Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

Next up today, Carolyn Wright at Photo Attorney reports that photographer Andrew Leonard has won in his case against Stemtech Health Services and has been awarded some $1.6 million dollars in actual damages.

Leonard is a photographer that specializes in taking photos of microscopic subjects, such as bone marrow stem cells. He sued Stemtech alleging that the company used some of his photos on their websites, publications, email and presentations without a proper license.

Due to the fact that Leonard did not timely register his photos with the U.S. Copyright Office, he was only eligible for actual damages. However, after 5 years of litigation, the jury found that those damages added up to $1.6 million, granting him that amount.

3: Studios Formally Drop $200M LimeWire Copyright Lawsuit

Finally today, Dominic Patten at Deadline reports that the major movie studios, after over a year and a half of litigation and a $200 million settlement, have dismissed their lawsuit against LimeWire and its founder Mark Gorton.

The studios had originally sued the site back in February 2012 following a victory by the record labels, which resulted in a $105 million settlement. The studios had hoped to ride that lawsuit to their own victory but LimeWire insisted on treating the movie studio case as seaprate.

It is unknown why the studios have dropped their lawsuit but it may be because it was looking likely to be a longer battle than they had anticipated, despite the record labels’ earlier victory.

Suggestions

That’s it for the three count today. We will be back tomorrow with three more copyright links. If you have a link that you want to suggest a link for the column or have any proposals to make it better. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. I hope to hear from you.

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