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U.S. Court of Appeals Reverses Application of Safe Harbour Liability Limitation for Copyright Infringement by AOL
On February 10, 2004, the U.S. Court of Appeals (9th Cir) issued its decision in the action brought against America Online Inc. (AOL) for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement. The action was brought in connection with the unauthorized posting and sharing of copyrighted material over a peer-to-peer network to which AOL granted its subscribers access. The Court upheld the district court's summary judgment that AOL was not liable for vicarious infringement, as well as the district court's conclusion that there were triable issues of fact with respect to the claim of contributory infringement. However, the Court reversed the district court's summary judgment that AOL was nevertheless not liable for contributory infringement because AOL qualified for one of the "safe harbour" limitations of liability under the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act (OCILLA), Title II of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The Court concluded that there was a triable issue as to whether AOL met the threshold requirement for eligibility under the OCILLA of reasonably implementing a policy for the termination of access for repeat copyright infringers in appropriate circumstances.
For a copy of the decision, visit:
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/9th/0255797P.pdf