The Football Association Premi v. Youtube, Inc.

Filing 383

FRAP 28(j) LETTER, dated 08/26/2011, on behalf of Appellant Alley Music Corporation, Bourne Co., Cal IV Entertainment, LLC, Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc., Edward B. Marks Music Company, Federation Francaise De Tennis, Freddy Bienstock Music Company, Murbo Music Publishing, Inc., National Music Publishers' Association, Sin-Drome Records, Ltd., Stage Three Music (US), Inc., The Football Association Premier League Limited, The Music Force LLC, The Music Force Media Group LLC, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and X-Ray Dog Music, Inc., RECEIVED. Service date 08/26/2011 by CM/ECF.[376371] [10-3342]

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Charles S. Sims Member of the Firm cI 212.969.3950 f 212.969.2900 csims@proskauer. corn www. proskauer. corn August 26. 2011 Via KCF Ms. Deborah Holmes Case Manager, Clerk's Office United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Thurgood Marshall U. S. Courthouse 40 Foley Square New York, NY 10007 Re: The Football Ass 'n Premier League et al. v. YouTube, Inc. et al. , No. 10-3342 Viacom International Inc. et al. v. YouTube Inc. et al. No. 10-3270 Dear Ms. Holmes: Please have the attached Rule 28(j) letter e-filed in the docket of The Football Association case. The letter was e-filed in the Viacom International case earlier today, and as the last line reflects, it is being submitted on behalf of the appellants in the Football Association case as well. Charles S. Sims Attachment Boca Raton i Boston i Chicago i Hong Kong i London i Los Angeles i New Orleans i New York i Newark i Paris i Sao Paulo i Washington, D. C. Case: 10-3270 Document: 443 Page: 1 08!26/2011 376152 2 Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP 1050 Connecticut Avenue, N. W. 20036-5306 Tel 202. 955, 8500 Washington, DC www. gibsondunn. corn Theodore B. Olson Direct: +1 202.955.8668 Fax +1 202 530.9575 TOlson@gibsondunn. corn August 26, 2011 VIA ECF Ms. Deborah Holmes Case Manager, Clerk's Office United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Thurgood Marshall U. S. Courthouse 40 Foley Square New York, NY 10007 Re: Viacom International, Inc. et al. v. YouTube, Inc. et al. , No. 10-3270 The Football Ass 'n Premier League et al. v. YouTube, Inc. et al. , No. 10-3342 Dear Ms. Holmes: Pursuant to FRAP 28(j), I write to advise the Court of the applicability of its recent decision in United States v. Ferguson, No. 08-6211, to the above-captioned cases. In Ferguson, the Court reaffirmed that even a criminal statute may be violated "knowingly" if the violator "'was aware of a high probability of the fact in dispute and consciously avoided confirming that fact. '" Slip op. 31-32 (quoting United States v. guattrone, 441 F.3d 153, 181 (2d Cir. 2006)). The Court explicitly invoked the Supreme Court's recent decision in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc. v. SEB S.A. , 131 S. Ct. 2060, 2070 k, n. 9 (2011), in equating the doctrine of "conscious avoidance" at issue in Ferguson to "willful blindness, the doctrine at issue in this case. Id. at 31 n. 14. And the Court confirmed that "both actual knowledge and conscious avoidance" may be proven through evidence of "[r]ed flags about the legitimacy of a transaction. Slip op. 38. " " Appellants have argued that You Tube's knowledge of the rampant infringement taking place on its site is established by its willful blindness to that infringement. See Viacom Br. 34-39; Premier League Br. 34-36. Ferguson confirms that such conscious avoidance can be demonstrated not only through evidence of affirmative steps to avoid specific knowledge of incriminating facts present in this record, Viacom Br. 11-14 but also through "red flags which permeate this record. See JAII-47 ("probably about the legitimacy of [] transactions, 75-80% of our views come from copyrighted material" ); JAII159-60. — — " Ferguson also refutes YouTube's primary defense to Viacom's willful-blindness argument, intended the awareness prong of the DMCA safe harbor to replace the common law doctrine of willful blindness. See YouTube Br. 37-40. The Ferguson Court i. e. , that Congress Brussels ~ Century City Orange County Munich New York Dallas Denver ~ Dubai Los Angeles Hong Kong London Palo Alto - Pans - San Francisco ~ Sao Paulo Singapore ~ Washington, D.C. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Case: 10-3270 (').bSON Document: 443 Page: 2 08/26/20'l 1 376152 2 DUNN Ms. Deborah Holmes August 26, 2011 Page 2 emphasizes that "conscious avoidance" is merely an alternative means of proving knowledge; the "government need not choose between an 'actual knowledge' and a 'conscious avoidance' theory. Slip op. , at 32. In so doing, Ferguson precludes YouTube's cramped understanding of the DMCA's knowledge prong as excluding willful blindness. See YouTube Br. 38. " The Class Appellants have authorized me to say they join this letter. Very truly yours, /s/ Theodore Theodore B. Olson B. Olson

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