In Cable v. Agence France Presse, 2010 WL 2902074 (N.D. Ill. July 20, 2010), a photographer sued Agence France Presse for violations of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act 17 USC 1202 and the Lanham Act. The violation alleged was that AFP removed the photographer's name, copyright notice and a "hotlink" to his website that were embedded in the photographs, then resold or reused the photographs.
AFP moved to dismiss, claiming that the photographer's name, copyright notice and hotlink were not "copyright management information" as intended by the DMCA. AFP argued that "copyright management information" referred to copyright management performed by technological systems.
The court rejected AFP's argument and declined to dismiss the claim based on a DMCA violation. The court also upheld a Lanham Act claim based on the same facts, finding that a claim for "reverse passing off" had been alleged, relying on the Supreme Court's Dastar case.
The DMCA - 17 USC 1202 - provides in relevant part:
§ 1202. Integrity of copyright management information3
(a) False Copyright Management Information. — No person shall knowingly and with the intent to induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal infringement —
(1) provide copyright management information that is false, or
(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright management information that is false.
(b) Removal or Alteration of Copyright Management Information. — No person shall, without the authority of the copyright owner or the law —
(1) intentionally remove or alter any copyright management information,
(2) distribute or import for distribution copyright management information knowing that the copyright management information has been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner or the law, or
(3) distribute, import for distribution, or publicly perform works, copies of works, or phonorecords, knowing that copyright management information has been removed or altered without authority of the copyright owner or the law, knowing, or, with respect to civil remedies under section 1203, having reasonable grounds to know, that it will induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal an infringement of any right under this title.
(c) Definition. — As used in this section, the term “copyright management information” means any of the following information conveyed in connection with copies or phonorecords of a work or performances or displays of a work, including in digital form, except that such term does not include any personally identifying information about a user of a work or of a copy, phonorecord, performance, or display of a work:
(1) The title and other information identifying the work, including the information set forth on a notice of copyright.
(2) The name of, and other identifying information about, the author of a work.
(3) The name of, and other identifying information about, the copyright owner of the work, including the information set forth in a notice of copyright.
(4) With the exception of public performances of works by radio and television broadcast stations, the name of, and other identifying information about, a performer whose performance is fixed in a work other than an audiovisual work.
(5) With the exception of public performances of works by radio and television broadcast stations, in the case of an audiovisual work, the name of, and other identifying information about, a writer, performer, or director who is credited in the audiovisual work.
(6) Terms and conditions for use of the work.
(7) Identifying numbers or symbols referring to such information or links to such information.
(8) Such other information as the Register of Copyrights may prescribe by regulation, except that the Register of Copyrights may not require the provision of any information concerning the user of a copyrighted work.
More on the DMCA here and here.
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