Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Traverse Internet Law Federal Court Report: August 2009 Copyright Infringement Lawsuits


The facts are unproven allegations of the Plaintiff and all commentary is based upon the allegations, the truthfulness and accuracy of which are likely in dispute.


DIAMOND ROSE SHEARS, LLC v. HATTORI HANZO SHEARS, LLC, ET AL.
DISTRICT OF COLORADO (DENVER)
1:09-CV-02035
FILED: 8/26/2009

In this case, the Plaintiff obtained copyright registration of its website. In order to bring a lawsuit in federal court this registration is required. It can be obtained at anytime within a couple of weeks on an expedited basis. The important point to note is that if you have a situation like this, the easier approach might be to simply serve a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice and have the website of the infringing party removed from the web. No copyright registration is required to use that tool.

Plaintiff Diamond Rose Shears, LLC launched a website in 2004. At least one of the Defendants was previously a distributor with the Plaintiff and after a falling out created a website using copies of the Plaintiff’s website.

The lawsuit includes counts for federal copyright infringement, unfair competition, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment. Plaintiff requests the entry of preliminary and permanent injunction against Defendants, an accounting of profits, actual damages including additional profits of Defendants, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs, and other just and proper relief. Traverse Internet Law Cross-Reference Number 1351.

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