IO Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc.

Filing 83

Plaintiff's Opposition to Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgement re 77 filed by IO Group, Inc. (Sperlein, Dennis) (Filed on 8/14/2007) Text modified on 8/15/2007 to conform to document caption post by counsel (bw, COURT STAFF).

IO Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc.

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GILL SPERLEIN (172887) THE LAW OFFICE OF GILL SPERLEIN 584 Castro Street, Suite 849 San Francisco, California 94114 Telephone: [phone] [e-mail] Attorney for Plaintiff IO GROUP, INC. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA SAN JOSE DIVISION ) ) IO GROUP, INC., a California corporation, ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) vs. ) ) ) VEOH NETWORKS, Inc., a California ) Corporation, ) ) Defendant. ) ___________________________________ CASE NO.: C-06-03926 (HRL) PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

DATE: September 4, 2007 TIME: 10:00 a.m. COURTROOM: 2

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TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF AUTHORITIES.......................................................................................................iii MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES I. II. Summary of Argument ............................................................................................... 1 Veoh Does Not Qualify for Immunity under the 17 U.S.C. §512, because It Has not Shown That Its Repeat Infringer Policy and the Implementation Thereof, Satisfies the Requirements of 512(i)(1)(B) ................................................................ 3 Veoh Is Not Eligible for the Safe Harbor Provision of 17 U.S.C §512(c) because the Infringement of Plaintiff's Works Was Not "by reason of the storage at the direction of a user". .................................................................................................... 5 Veoh Does not Meet the Conditions of 512(c)(1)(B) because Defendant Receives a Benefit Directly Attributable to the Infringing Activity and Has the Right and Ability to Control Such Activity. ............................................................................... 6 A. The Standards for 512(c)(1)(B) Are the Same as the Common Law Standard for Vicarious Copyright Infringement. ............................................................... 6 B. Knowledge Is Not an Element of Common Law Vicarious Copyright Infringement or 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B). ............................................................ 9 C. Defendant Receives a Direct Financial Benefit from the Infringing Activity 12 D. Defendant Has the Right and Ability to Control the Infringing Activity ...... 17 V. Defendant Does not Meet the Conditions of 512(c)(1)(A)(ii) because Defendant Was Aware of Facts and Circumstances from Which Infringing Activity was Apparent. .................................................................................................................. 24 Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 25

III.

IV.

VI.

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES CASES A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6243 (N.D. Cal. 2000) ................. 5 A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 114 F. Supp. 2d 896, 907 (N.D.Cal 2000).......................... 14 A&M Records v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir. 2001)("Napster II").............. 9, 11, 13, 18 Anderson v. Nidorf, 26 F.3d 100 (9th Cir. 1994) ........................................................................... 23 Arista Records, Inc. v. Flea World, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14988 (D.N.J. 2006)... 11, 18, 21 Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Hobi, Inc., 1993 WL 404152 (M.D. La 1993) ...................................... 14 Buck v. Crescent Gardens Operating Co., 28 F. Supp. 576 (D. Mass. 1939)............................... 10 Buck v. Pettijohn, 34 F. Supp. 968 (D. Tenn. 1940) ..................................................................... 10 Chess Music, Inc. v. Sipe, 442 F. Supp. 1184, 1185 (D. Minn. 1977) .................................... 10, 15 Corbis Corp. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 351 F. Supp. 2d 1090 (D. Wash. 2004) ................................ 19 CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc., 164 F. Supp. 2d 688 (D. Md. 2001)................................... 14 CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc., 373 F.3d 544 (4th Cir. 2004) ............................................... 8 De Acosta v. Brown, 146 F.2d 408 (2d Cir. 1944) ........................................................................ 12 Dreamland Ball Room, Inc. v. Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., 36 F.2d 354 (7th Cir. 1929) ............... 10 Ellison v. Robertson, 357 F.3d 1072 (9th Cir. 2004) .................................................................... 15 Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259 (9th Cir. 1996) ............................. 7, 11, 13, 17 Fonovisa, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4270 (N.D. Cal. 2002) .................... 10, 14 Gershwin Publishing Corp. v. Columbia Artists Management, Inc., 443 F.2d 1159 (2d Cir. 1971) ..................................................................................................................................................... 7, 9 Hendrickson v. Ebay, Inc., 165 F. Supp. 2d 1082, 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2001) ................................... 19 Irving Berlin, Inc. v. Daigle, 26 F.2d 149 (E.D. La. 1928) ........................................................... 10 Major Bob Music v. Stubbs, 851 F.Supp. 475 (S.D. Ga. 1994) .................................................... 14 Perfect 10, Inc. v. Cybernet Ventures , Inc., 213 F. Supp. 2d 1146, (CD Cal. 2002) ................... 20 Perfect 10, Inc. v.CCBill ................................................................................................................. 8 Playboy Enters. v. Webbworld Inc., 968 F. Supp. 1175 (N.D. Tex. 1997) .................................. 22 PolyGram Int'l Publishing, Inc. v. Nevada/TIG, Inc., 855 F. Supp. 1314 (D. Mass. 1994) ........................................................................................................................................... 17, 12, 17
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Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Netcom On-Line Commun. Servs., 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N. Cal. 1995)....... 7 Saenger Org., Inc. v. Nationwide Ins. Licensing Assocs., Inc., 119 F.3d 55 (1st Cir. 1997)......... 24 Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. v. H.L. Green Co., 316 F.2d 304 (2d Cir. 1963).............. 1, 7, 11, 12, 17 Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (U.S. 1984) ............................. 10 Tur v. YouTube, Inc., No. 06-4436 (C.D. Cal. filed Aug. 14, 2006)............................................... 2 UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Sinnott, 300 F. Supp. 2d 993 (E.D. CA 2004) ..................................... 17 Veoh Networks, Inc. v. UMG Recordings, Inc, et al., No. 07-1568 (S.D.Cal. filed Aug. 9, 2007) 2 Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., No. 07-2103 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 13, 2007)........... 2 Walden Music, Inc. v. C.H.W., Inc. 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6622, 1996 WL 254654 (D.Kan.1996) ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 Warner Bros., Inc. v. O'Keefe, 468 F. Supp. 16, 20 (D. Iowa 1977) .............................................. 7 STATUTES 17 U.S.C. §205(c).......................................................................................................................... 24 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)..................................................................................................................Passim 17 U.S.C. § 512 (i)(1)(B) ............................................................................................................. 3-5 18 U.S.C. §2257 (f)(4) .................................................................................................................. 24

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MEMORANDUM OF POINTS AND AUTHORITIES "Although copyright infringements are quite generally termed piracy, only a minority of infringers fly the Jolly Roger." Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. v. H. L. Green Co., 316 F.2d 304, 308 (2d Cir. 1963). (citations omitted)(explaining why knowledge of infringing activity is not a requirement for vicarious infringement). I. Summary of Argument Defendant has moved this Court for Summary Judgment based on the application of 17 U.S.C.§512(c)1. However, Defendant fails to establish essential elements of a §512(c) affirmative defense, and is exposed to liability under traditional application of direct, contributory and vicarious infringement claims as established in Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, which Plaintiff fully incorporates by reference here. Defendant fails to reasonably implement a repeat infringer policy as it takes no measures to prevent repeat infringers from creating multiple new accounts in order to continue their infringing activity. Defendant relies solely upon e-mail addresses to track repeat infringers in spite of the fact that e-mail addresses are easily, anonymously and freely available. Furthermore, Defendant is not eligible for the safe harbor it seeks, because the infringing Flash and .jpg files it created were not put on Defendant's system by users but by Defendant. Defendant argues that 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) is different and significantly narrower than the test for vicarious liability at common law, but there is no support for this argument. Defendant received a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity and had the right and

Both parties have in their respective motions for summary judgment set forth the standards for summary judgment in a substantially similar fashion. Plaintiff will not repeat those standards here, but reminds the Court that Defendant has only moved for summary adjudication on the issue of whether it is entitled to safe harbor protection under 17 U.S.C. 512(c). To the extent Defendant wishes to raise other defenses, it must fully support their factual basis in it Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment.
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ability to control that activity. Defendant was also aware of facts and circumstances from which infringing activity was apparent. Thus, Defendant loses any entitlement to safe harbor under 17 U.S.C. §512(c). Defendant makes a baseless claim that Io Group filed this suit in an effort to demand a windfall settlement from Defendant (Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment at 1:11-21) suggesting that Plaintiff is alone in its challenge to the legitimacy of Defendant's operations. Defendant's characterization fails to acknowledge litigation by other copyright holders against enterprises similar to Defendant's (See Viacom International, Inc. v. YouTube, Inc., No. 07-2103 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 13, 2007); Tur v. YouTube, Inc., No. 06-4436 (C.D. Cal. filed Aug. 14, 2006), and Defendant's own recently filed declaratory judgment action in the face of alleged threats of litigation from another copyright holder - Universal Music. Veoh Networks, Inc. v. UMG Recordings, Inc, et al., No. 07-1568 (S.D.Cal. filed Aug. 9, 2007). Io Group is a small business subject to extensive government regulation due to the nature of the content it produces. Because the adult film industry has historically been reluctant to protect its creative works, the industry as a whole was ill prepared to face the new piracy challenges that arose in the age of the Internet. Even in an era that may be perceived as accepting of erotic material, many consumers turn to piracy in order to obtain such material not only freely, but also anonymously. Unlike the motion picture and recording industries, the adult entertainment industry has no trade association working collectively to protect creative works from piracy. Ruoff Decl. in Support of Opposition at ¶2. Recognizing that piracy would have a devastating impact on its business and having no support elsewhere, Io Group several years ago began allotting considerable resources towards antipiracy measures including, but not limited to, bringing litigation. Id. at ¶3.
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A majority of the actions Plaintiff brings result in uncollectible default judgments. Only a few actions resulted in recoveries greater than the cost of bringing the action. Io Group's anti piracy efforts are designed to deter other would-be infringers, not to generate income. Id. at ¶4. Despite Io Group's efforts, massive infringement continues, often made possible by large companies that reap financial rewards while espousing a twisted interpretation of the purpose and applicability of 17 U.S.C. §512. Defendant makes a weak attempt to cast a shadow over Plaintiff by suggesting that it is engaged in a sleazy high-tech shakedown, but Defendant's assertions in this regard are simply incorrect and unwarranted. II. Veoh Does Not Qualify for Immunity under 17 U.S.C. §512, because It Has Not Shown That Its Repeat Infringer Policy and the Implementation Thereof, Satisfies the Requirements of 512(i)(1)(B). As Defendant noted in its Motion for Summary Judgment, in order to be eligible for immunity under 17 U.S.C. §512 (a) - (d), a service provider must first meet the eligibility requirements of §512(i). 17 U.S.C. §512 (i). Safe harbor provisions will only apply if the service provider "has adopted and reasonably implemented, and informs subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system or network of, a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system or network are repeat infringers. Id. Veoh has failed to establish facts that it has reasonably implemented such a policy. According to Defendant's testimony, Defendant's written policy in June of 2006 was to terminate "repeat infringers (i.e., persons found to have uploaded copyright infringing User Material on more than two occasions." Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment 5:4-16 and evidence cited therein. While this may have been Defendant's written policy, Defendant failed to reasonably implement the policy as required under 17 U.S.C. §512(i)(1)(A). In short, Defendant implemented
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its repeat infringer policy in such a way that makes it impossible to determine if an individual has previously submitted infringing material, because Defendant does not track the identity of its submitting users- only the e-mail address the users provide. Defendant implemented its repeat infringer policy by canceling the accounts of repeat infringers and adding the e-mail addresses associated with the accounts to a black list so the infringers could not "register for a new user id with that e-mail address." Dunning Declaration in Support of Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment ("Dunning Decl.") at ¶11, emphasis added. In other words, once Defendant identifies a user as a repeat infringer, Defendant does not block that user from submitting additional video clips, rather Defendant only blocks one of the user's e-mail addresses ­the address associated with the user's account. An e-mail address is not an adequate means for identifying anyone. An unscrupulous user, who has twice engaged in copyright infringement, can continue his infringing spree simply by obtaining a new e-mail address and reregistering with Veoh using a new user name. It is common knowledge that the number of free and anonymous e-mail addresses a person can obtain is only limited by the creativity required to select a unique set of characters. For example, Plaintiff's Vice-President, Keith Ruoff recently applied for the yahoo e-mail address [e-mail] using the pseudonym John Doe. He then used that e-mail address to register a new account with Veoh. Ruoff Decl. Supporting Plaintiff's Opposition at ¶ 7. Making it that much easier for users to continue to anonymously infringe, Defendant does not even verify user submitted e-mails. Dunning Depo. at 72:14-23. In other words, a person may not even need to obtain a new e-mail address before reregistering with Veoh, he can simply make one up. In the Napster litigation the district court denied defendant's motion for summary judgment in part, because Napster's repeat infringer policy blocked a user's account rather than
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blocking a user's IP address. Thus there was a triable issue of fact as to whether defendant could establish the requirements of 17 U.S.C. §512(i). A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6243 at *28. (N.D. Cal. 2000)("Summary adjudication is also inappropriate because Napster has not shown that it reasonably implemented a policy for terminating repeat infringers). This issue was not addressed in any of the subsequent Napster litigation. Here, Defendant's policy is essentially the same and thus it fares no better. Defendant's system of only using a previous e-mail address as a means of blocking repeat infringers, rather than taking measures to block the actual infringer, or at least the infringer's IP address, is mere lip service and tantamount to not implementing its policy at all. Veoh's implementation of its policy cannot be deemed to be a reasonable implementation and thus Defendant fails to meet the threshold requirements of 17 U.S.C. §512(i)(1)(A). Plaintiff believes that the Court can resolve this issue in its favor since the implementation of the policy is unreasonable on its face. At a minimum Defendant's failure to establish that its system was reasonably implemented creates a triable issue of fact and a basis for denying Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment. III. Defendant Is Not Eligible for the Safe Harbor Provision of 17 U.S.C §512(c) because the Infringement of Plaintiff's Works Was Not "by reason of the storage at the direction of a user". Defendant is only eligible for the safe harbor provisions of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), for infringements that result from information residing on its system or network at the direction of users. 17 U.S.C. § 512(c). As explained more fully in Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, Defendant actually prepares two types of new works from the video files it acquires from its users. See, Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment § II-D. One of the new works is a Flash format version of the
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originally submitted video file. Defendant creates these works on its Flash conversion servers in Los Angeles and then transfers the newly created works to its servers in San Diego where they reside indefinitely. Dunning Depo. 40:5-11. Defendant also extracts frames from the video files and creates new still image .jpg files. Papa Depo. 155:16-24. Defendant alone chooses the specifications for these newly created files including the bit rate, frame size, frame rate, and the codec. Papa Depo.126:1-129:18. Nowhere on Defendant's website or in its Terms of Use does Defendant inform users that it will create these new files. Ruoff Decl. Supporting Opposition at ¶6. Nor does Defendant obtain permission to create these new works, other than the blanket license it obtains to exploit the works on the Veoh system generally. Shapiro Depo. 23:6-14, 24:6-26:18, Ex 5; Papa Depo. 12:2-5, 31:14-19. Users may not even realize that these files have been created. These new Flash and .jpg files were created by Defendant on its own volition. Users never instructed Defendant to create these files and only gave them permission to do so in the broadest sense. These files were never even in the possession of the users. Therefore, Defendant has not established, as it must, that these files were placed on Defendant's system at the direction of the users. The safe harbor provision of 17 U.S.C. §512(c) is not available to the Defendant for these new Defendant-created files. Liability for the infringing Flash and .jpg files must be evaluated entirely under a traditional copyright infringement analysis. At a minimum, the issue of whether the Flash and .jpg files were on the system at the direction of the users or as a result of the actions of Defendant is an issue of fact that cannot be resolved on Summary Judgment. IV. Veoh Does Not Meet the Conditions of 512(c)(1)(B) because Defendant Receives a Financial Benefit Directly Attributable to the Infringing Activity and Has the Right and Ability to Control Such Activity. A. The Standards for 512(c)(1)(B) Are the Same as the Common Law Standard for Vicarious Copyright Infringement.
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"The concept of vicarious copyright liability was developed in the Second Circuit as an outgrowth of the agency principles of respondeat superior. The landmark case on vicarious liability for sales of counterfeit recordings is Shapiro Bernstein and Co. v. H. L. Green Co., 316 F.2d 304 (2d Cir. 1963)" Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259, 261-262 (9th Cir. 1996). The Second Circuit clearly articulated the standard in Gershwin Publishing Corp. v. Columbia Artists Management, Inc., providing the language that courts have universally adopted. "[O]ne may be vicariously liable if he has the right and ability to supervise the infringing activity and also has a direct financial interest in such activities." Gershwin Publishing Corp. v. Columbia Artists Management, Inc., 443 F.2d 1159, 1162 (2d Cir. 1971). See, Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259, 262 (9th Cir. 1996); Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Netcom On-Line Commun. Servs., 907 F. Supp. 1361, 1382 (D. Cal. 1995); Polygram Int'l Publishing v. Nevada/TIG, Inc., 855 F. Supp. 1314, 1333 (D. Mass. 1994)("Polygram"); Warner Bros., Inc. v. O'Keefe, 468 F. Supp. 16, 20 (D. Iowa 1977). In order to be eligible for the safe harbor provision of §512(c) a service provider must "not receive a financial benefit directly attributable to the infringing activity, in a case in which the service provider has the right and ability to control such activity." 17 USC§512(c)(1)(B). By inserting this language into the DMCA, Congress clearly intended to adopt the exact common law standard as described above. In fact, Defendant acknowledges in its moving papers that 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) is borrowed from the common law standard for vicarious copyright infringement. Def.'s Motion for Summary Judgment at 21:24-26. The Ninth Circuit has found that the "financial benefit" prong of 512(c)(1)(B) should be considered identical to and analyzed in the same manner as the "financial benefit" prong from the common law doctrine. Perfect 10 v. CCBill, LLC, 481 F.3d 751, 767 (9th Cir. 2007). The same reasoning applies to the "right and ability to control" prong.
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Defendant cites CoStar Group, Inc. v. Loopnet, Inc. to support its argument that the vicarious infringement language codified at 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) requires less of a service provider than the exact same language used at common law. CoStar, Group,Inc. v. Loopnet, Inc., 373 F.3d 544 (4th Cir. 2004). Defendant overstates the CoStar holding. In dictum the Fourth Circuit merely said that even if an ISP is liable for infringement at common law, it can turn to the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA. This is true since some (but not all) provisions of the DMCA offer protections that were unavailable at common law. Most notably, ISPs that meet the requirements of §512(a) cannot be held vicariously liable, although they might be liable at common law. 17 U.S.C. § 512(a). There may be other sections of the DMCA that provide protections for ISPs not available at common law, but §512(c)(1)(B) is not one of them. Defendant attempts to argue that notice requirements found elsewhere in 17 U.S.C. §512 are some how relevant or applicable to 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B). However, it's clear that Congress crafted this provision to mirror vicarious infringement elements found at common law and Congress specifically elected not to add a knowledge requirement or notice provision, although it could have easily done so. Examination of other sections of 17 U.S.C. §512 show that Congress was capable of inserting carefully crafted notice provisions where it wanted them. See, notification requirements at 17 U.S.C. §512 (c)(1)(C) and detailed elements of such notice at §512(c)(3). Defendant cites the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Perfect 10 v. CCBill to support its argument that it does not have the right and ability to control, and cites the court's opinion as follows, "([T]he burden of policing copyright infringement -- identifying the potentially infringing material and adequately documenting infringement ­[rests] squarely on the owners of the copyright." Def's Motion for Summary Judgment 20:2-4, citing Perfect 10 v. CCBill, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 12508, at *21. The opening phrase of the court's statement, which Defendant cunningly omitted, makes it very clear that the Court was discussing the DMCA notice procedures and not CCBill's right and ability to control direct infringers. "The DMCA notification procedures place the burden of policing copyright infringement -- identifying the potentially infringing material and adequately documenting infringement -- squarely on the owners of the copyright. Perfect 10, Inc. v. CCBill LLC, 481 F.3d at 762, (emphasis added). The court's initial limiting explanation in the above
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passage, which Defendant excluded, is essential to understanding the court's position, especially in light of the fact that the court never even addressed CCBill's right and ability to control. (Because the Court found that CCBill did not receive a direct financial benefit, it never reached the "right and ability to control" issue.) Id. Similarly, Defendant incorrectly asserts that Perfect 10 v. CCBill supports its position that the DMCA does not require a service provider to review content at any stage. Once more Defendant misstates the dictum of the court. The discussion from which Defendant quotes specifically addresses the issue of whether or not CCBill implemented a reasonable policy for the termination of repeat infringers. The Ninth Circuit wrote that in order to prove it has implemented a reasonable repeat infringer policy, an internet service provider does not have an affirmative duty to investigate and uncover the repeat infringers on its own. This has nothing to do whatsoever, with whether or not Defendant has the right and ability to control the actions of direct infringers when the service provider receives a direct financial benefit from the infringing activity. Perfect 10 v. CCBill simply did not address 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) and Defendant's reliance upon it is intellectually dishonest at best. In §512(c)(1)(B), Congress elected to maintain the common law standard for vicarious liability and made its intentions clear by adopting the precise common law language, unequivocally and without qualification. B. Knowledge Is Not an Element of Common Law Vicarious Copyright Infringement or 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B). At every turn Defendant attempts to inject a scienter requirement into 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) that simply is not there. Knowledge has never been an element of vicarious infringement at common law and Congress did not add any language to suggest a new knowledge requirement when it wrote and passed §512(c)(1)(B). Often courts analyze a defendant's liability under both contributory infringement and vicarious infringement. See e.g., Gershwin Publishing Corp. v. Columbia Artists Management, Inc., 443 F.2d 1159 (2d Cir. 1971), A&M Records v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004 (9th Cir.
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2001)("Napster II"). "However, care must be taken to note the distinctions between the two types of secondary infringement. Contributory infringement requires knowledge and substantial participation in addition to direct infringement by a third party. Vicarious infringement requires control and financial benefit and direct infringement by a third party." Fonovisa, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4270 at *28 (N.D. Cal. 2002). There have been opinions in which courts have intertwined their discussions and used the terms contributory and vicarious interchangeably, leading to some confusion. See, e.g. Sony Corp. of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc., 464 U.S. 417 (U.S. 1984). However, an understanding of the genesis and history of vicarious infringement and the policy considerations behind it make it clear that vicarious infringement is separate and distinct from contributory infringement. The two require separate analysis and imposition of vicarious infringement does not require a finding of knowledge. Vicarious copyright infringement emerged from a line of "dance hall cases" and is based on the common law principle of respondeat superior. See Dreamland Ball Room, Inc. v. Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., 36 F.2d 354 (7th Cir. 1929). The central holding of the dance hall cases was that a dance hall operator could be held liable when an orchestra publicly performed copyrighted works without authorization, even if the band leader and orchestra members were not employees, and even if the operator did not know of the infringing acts. Id.; See also, Buck v. Pettijohn, 34 F. Supp. 968 (E.D. Tenn. 1940)(night club liable for orchestra's infringement even though no admission was charged and the club did not know what songs the orchestra would play or whether those performances were infringing); Buck v. Crescent Gardens Operating Co., 28 F. Supp. 576 (D. Mass. 1939)(defendant liable even though it did not know what songs the orchestra would play); Irving Berlin, Inc. v. Daigle, 26 F.2d 149 (E.D. La. 1928)(defendant dance pavilion guilty for infringing acts of orchestra even though it did not make song selections and had no way of knowing orchestra did not have permission to perform the infringed works); Chess Music, Inc. v. Sipe, 442 F. Supp. 1184, 1185 (D. Minn. 1977)(tavern owner liable for infringing performances of

-10PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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band even though he instructed them not to play copyrighted music and had no knowledge of what songs were played or whether any songs performed were copyrighted). Similarly, where a department store licensed a third party vender to operate a record concession, the department store was found liable for the vendor's infringing record sales because it had the right and ability to control the activity of the vender and it received a financial benefit from the infringing record sales. Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. v. H. L. Green Co., 316 F.2d 304 (2d Cir. 1963)("Shapiro"). In recent years, the same principles have been applied to flee market operators, when vendors sold pirated music (Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259 (9th Cir. 1996)("Fonovisa"); Arista Records, Inc. v. Flea World, Inc., 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14988 (D.N.J. 2006) and to an Internet based company, when individuals used its database index to trade infringing MP3 music files. Napster II, 239 F.3d at 1023. In none of these cases was the finding of vicarious infringement dependant upon the defendant's ability to determine if the actions were infringing and the analysis never rested on whether or not the defendant knew particular actions were infringing. The Second Circuit in Shapiro reasoned that like the proprietors in the dance hall cases, it was sound policy and a correct application of the law, to place the burden for preventing infringement with the department store, because it financially benefited from the concession operator's activities, and had the right and ability to control the actions of the concession operator. Shapiro, 316 F.2d at 308. The result in these cases is justified when one considers the policy considerations behind respondeat superior in general and its application to copyright infringement through the theory of vicarious infringement specifically. "Modern decisions, when explaining policy justifications for vicarious liability rather than merely citing precedent, commonly refer to risk allocation. When an individual seeks to profit from an enterprise in which identifiable types of losses are expected to occur, it is ordinarily fair and reasonable to place responsibility for those losses on the person who profits, even if that person makes arrangements for others to perform the acts that foreseeably cause the losses. The law of vicarious liability treats the expected losses as simply another cost of doing business. The enterprise and the person profiting from it are better able than either the
-11PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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innocent injured plaintiff or the person whose act caused the loss to distribute the costs and to shift them to others who have profited from the enterprise. In addition, placing responsibility for the loss on the enterprise has the added benefit of creating a greater incentive for the enterprise to police its operations carefully to avoid unnecessary losses." Polygram Int'l Publishing v. Nevada/TIG, Inc., 855 F. Supp. at 1325. Copyright is a strict liability statute because if one could insulate himself from liability by "merely refraining from inquiry" copyright protection would be of little value. Shapiro 316 F.2d at 308, citing De Acosta v. Brown, 146 F.2d 408, 413 (2d Cir. 1944). For much the same reasons, the imposition of vicarious liability, even when the defendant does not have knowledge of the infringing activity, cannot be deemed unduly harsh or unfair, because the party found strictly liable is often in a position to police the conduct of the primary infringer. Id. If it were to require knowledge as an element of vicarious infringement, the Second Circuit wrote, then defendants who could otherwise police the conduct of infringers would shield their eyes from the possibility of copyright infringement in order to create a buffer against liability while reaping the proceeds of infringement. Id. at 309. Defendant appears to be doing just that. Congress understood the policy concerns for imposing the brand of liability when it included the common law standards at 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) in order to exclude vicarious infringers from the protections of the DMCA. Defendant's attempt to equate inability to recognize infringing works with the right and ability to control the acts of a direct infringer, is a desperate attempt to interject a knowledge requirement that clearly was not an element at common law and is not an element of 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B). C. Defendant Receives a Direct Financial Benefit from the Infringing Activity. Defendant states that Veoh Networks, Inc. was founded to provide a forum for the efficient sharing of high-quality, user created video content on the Internet. Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment at 1:6-7. However, Defendant refers to itself as an Internet Television Network (Shapiro Depo. 53:24-54:1) and like any television network it was founded to earn advertising revenue through the draw of consumers to view compelling video entertainment. Q: "Was Veoh designed to earn revenue from ad sales?"
-12PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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A: "We envisioned Veoh to ­yes, to be able to earn revenue from ad sales." Shapiro Deposition 59:19-22. Q: "Is there a correlation between how many users come to veoh.com and how much revenue Veoh is able to earn?" Ms. Golinveaux: "Object to the form of the question." A: "There will be a correlation between how much video a ­yes, how much video a viewer watches and revenue, we believe. Again, don't have real data on it, but that is the assumption." Id. 61:15-23 Q: "If Veoh has more content on its site, is it more likely that some of that content will appeal to any given individual user? Ms. Golinveaux: "Object to the form." A: "Yes." Id. 62:19-23. Veoh earns revenue by acquiring video files from its users, broadcasting and distributing those video files on its website and selling adjacent space to advertisers. Its operation is based on the same principles of traditional television whereby advertising revenue is generated by offering free entertainment as a draw for consumers. The more compelling and desirable the free content, the more consumers are drawn to the site to view the content. In turn, more advertising revenue can be generated. Just as with traditional television, individuals are drawn to www.veoh.com for the sole purpose of watching entertainment online or downloading video files for later viewing. Every time a person comes to www.veoh.com, Defendant receives an incremental but direct financial benefit. Courts have routinely held that, "financial benefit exists where the availability of the infringing material acts as a draw for customers." Napster II, 239 F.3d at 1023 (quoting Fonovisa). Moreover, the Ninth Circuit in Napster II recognized that current draw is sufficient if it affects future revenue. The court wrote, "[a]mple evidence supports the district court's finding that Napster's future revenue is directly dependent upon `increases in user-base.' More users register with the Napster system as the `quality and quantity of available music increases.'" Id. Defendant's business is substantially similar to Napster's in this regard. The deposition excerpts
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cited above indicate that like Napster, Defendant relies entirely on content to draw viewers to www.veoh.com and in turn earns revenue by advertising to those viewers. It does not matter that Veoh persuaded thousands of people to provide the content without compensation. Those individuals may not be employees, but they are rendering a service to Defendant nonetheless. Nor, does it matter that the infringement occurred before Defendant began actually placing advertising on its website. Direct financial benefit does not require earned revenue, so long as the defendant has economic incentives for tolerating unlawful behavior. A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, 114 F. Supp. 2d 896, 921 (N.D.Cal. 2000). In support of its reasoning in Napster the district court cited Major Bob Music v. Stubbs ("Major Bob's"), 851 F.Supp. 475 (S.D. Ga. 1994), a case in which "a bar derived direct financial benefit from infringing musical performances on its premises." A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, 114 F. Supp. 2d at 921. In Major Bob's "[t]he court noted that `an enterprise is considered to be 'profit-making' even if it never actually yields a profit.'" Id. (citing Major Bob's, 851 F. Supp. at 480). The court also cited Walden Music, Inc. v. C.H.W., Inc. 1996 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6622, 1996 WL 254654, at *5 (D.Kan.1996) ("The fact that defendant' entrepreneurial enterprise is not profiting is not a defense to the plaintiffs' copyright infringement claims.") and Broadcast Music, Inc. v. Hobi, Inc., 1993 WL 404152, at *3 (M.D. La 1993)(holding defendant vicariously liable because it operated with goal of making a profit, even though it did not actually make one). The Ninth Circuit agreed with the district court's analysis and holding and adopted it in full in Napster II. Napster II, 239 F.3d at 1023. Moreover, drawing individuals to the website prior to advertising serves the added benefits of 1) building a large user base which in turn increases internet `buzz" about the site, encourages investment and creates interest from future advertisers; and 2) testing the operational limits of the system through "beta" testing. Styn Depo. at 19:12-20:25 (on the value of beta testing generally). Defendant seeks to end run the holding in Napster II by relying on CoStar, a Maryland District Court case where the court held that there can be no direct financial benefit when users don't pay to use the site. CoStar Group,Inc. v. Loopnet, Inc., 164 F. Supp.2d 688, 705 (D.Md. 2001). When the Fourth Circuit reviewed the case, the application of 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) was
-14PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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not among the issues reviewed. CoStar, Group,Inc. v. Loopnet, Inc., 373 F3d 544 (4th Cir. 2004). The district court case reflects a misunderstanding of the financial benefit of increased traffic or an increased user base to a website, particularly a website that advertises or plans to advertise. Such reasoning is not only unsound; it is in direct conflict with current Ninth Circuit law as set forth in Napster II. Napster II, 239 F.3d at 1023. See also, Fonovisa, Inc. v. Napster, Inc., 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4270 at *26. (N.D. Cal. 2002) In any event, there is no support in common law or the 17 U.S.C. §512(c) for Defendant's argument that it did not receive a financial benefit from the infringing activity, because it never "attempted to capitalize on providing infringing content" or that its business model is not "premised on infringing activity." Once more this argument reflects Defendant's attempt to inject a knowledge element into the vicarious infringement analysis, where it does not belong. While Defendant's argument might be relevant to a defense against a claim of inducement (a form of contributory infringement), Defendant's state of mind has simply never been an element of vicarious infringement analysis. For example, the dance hall operators in the cases reviewed supra did not intend to profit from infringing performances. In fact, in some cases the dance hall operators instructed the performers not to play infringing music. See Chess Music, Inc. v. Sipe, 442 F. Supp. 1184, 1185 (D. Minn. 1977). Defendant also relies on Ellison to support its "no direct financial benefit" argument. In Ellison, defendant AOL (described by the court as a behemoth online service provider) provided the type of service most typically associated with an ISP ­ access to the Internet. Ellison v. Robertson., 357 F. 3d 1072 (9th Cir. 2004)("Ellison"). One of the services available to AOL subscribers was access to the USENET, a collection of organizations and individuals whose computers connect to one another and exchange messages posted by USENET users. Id. at 1074, n.1. Someone had distributed infringing copies of Ellison's books through a USENET group, thereby making the books available to anyone with USENET access (not just AOL subscribers). The infringing copies passed through AOL's servers but only remained there for a period of fourteen days. Id. at 1075. The district court found that there was no direct financial benefit because USENET access only accounted for a small percentage of subscriber usage and only a
-15PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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small amount of the material available was infringing. Ellison v. Robertson, 189 F. Supp. 2d 1051, 1060 (C.D.Cal. 2002). The Ninth Circuit flatly rejected the district court's reasoning, specifically ruling that the amount of infringing material in a forum is not relevant. Ellison, 357 F.3d at 1078. The Court of Appeals found there was no showing of direct financial benefit - not because the small amount of infringement, but rather because there was insufficient evidence to prove that access to the USENET group served as a draw for AOL subscribers. Id. at 1079. Draw was difficult to establish because AOL users purchased subscriptions for a myriad of different services and access to the infringing USENET group was available from other Internet access providers. Id. The salient question was not how much infringing material appeared in any given forum, but whether facts could be established linking the forum where the infringing activity took place and the revenue generating aspects of the operation. Veoh's business model is far closer to the Napster model than the AOL model. In fact, it is nearly identical. Like Napster, Defendant seeks merely to draw people to their website, not to persuade them to purchase a subscription. Moreover, access to video files is no small part of Defendant's offerings; it is the entirety of its operation. The percentage of infringing material available at www.veoh.com may be smaller than that in Napster, but Ellison clearly holds that direct financial benefit can be established even if there is only a small amount of infringing material. Id. The uncontroverted evidence shows that Defendant received a financial benefit from the infringing activity. Defendant admits that video files serve as a draw to www.veoh.com and that Defendant benefits when users come to their website. These facts alone are sufficient to establish a draw. Even further, not only were customers drawn to www.veoh.com to view videos generally, or adult videos specifically, they were drawn to www.veoh.com precisely to view Plaintiff's works. Viewers specifically selected Plaintiff's video files for viewing. In fact, one of Plaintiff's works was viewed nearly 10,000 times, was rated by viewers with four and one half stars out of five, received thirty-nine "favorite" votes from viewers and on June 13, 2006 was ranked as the 21st most popular gay adult video on www.veoh.com. Ruoff Decl. in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for
-16PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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Summary Judgment at ¶17 and Exs. D and H. Clearly, individuals were drawn to www.veoh.com to view Plaintiff's material. Defendant received a direct financial benefit from making video files available to the public through www.veoh.com because free video, including Plaintiff's videos, drew individuals to the site. D. Defendant Has the Right and Ability to Control the Infringing Activity Courts have found the right and ability to control where there is a set of rules or regulations (occasionally in the form of a license or contract) which govern the conduct of the direct infringer coupled with the vicarious infringer's ability to police or enforce those rules. See Shapiro, 316 F.2d 304; Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc., 76 F.3d 259; Napster II, 239 F.3d 1004. In Shapiro the Second Circuit found that the department store's relationship with the company it licensed to run a record concession created a right and ability to control because the store could impose rules on the licensee and could discharge licensee's employees if those rules were not followed. Shapiro, 316 F.2d at 306. In Polygram, the court found that trade show organizers had the right and ability to control exhibitors at a computer show because the exhibitors were bound to certain rules and regulations, the organizers had the authority to prohibit the exhibitors from playing any music at all, and the organizers walked the aisles to ensure compliance with rules. Polygram, 855 F. Supp. at 1328. Courts also found conditions to satisfy the "ability to control" prong in the flea market cases. In Fonovisa, right and ability to control was established by the broad contracts the operator of a flea market had regulating the behavior of the vendors, as well as, the operator's ability to police the vendors in order to enforce the rules. Fonovisa, 76 F.3d at 263. The operator of another flea market was found to have control over vendors based on the operator's rules allowing inspection of goods for sale and the right to cancel space if rules were violated, as well as, the operator's rules prohibiting the sale of certain classes of goods such as food and beverage, firearms and ammunition. UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Sinnott, 300 F. Supp. 2d 993, 1001(E.D. CA 2004). Rather interestingly, in a third flea market case, the court found control based in part on a

-17PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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limitation on "vendors' rights to display certain materials, such as pornography." Arista Records, Inc. v. Flea World, Inc., LEXIS 14988 at *33(emphasis added). The uncontroverted evidence establishes that these elements of control are present in the matter before the Court. Defendant requires users to agree to a litany of rules and regulations as set forth in its Terms of Use and Acceptable Use Policy. Users are not allowed to submit videos that infringe on intellectual property rights. Defendant also prohibits users from making unsolicited offers, or sending advertisements, proposals or junk mail. Also, Defendant prohibits is users from impersonating other people, misrepresenting the source of material, or harassing, abusing, defaming, threatening or defrauding other users. In fact, the rules go beyond regulating the nature of the content users submit by also prohibiting certain actions such as linking to password protected areas of the site or spidering material on the site. The rules even set the venue and choice of law if disputes arise. See Ruoff Declaration in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, Ex. B - Defendant's Terms of Use, and Ex. C - Defendant's Acceptable Use Policy. The Terms of Use also specifically permit Defendant to police the Veoh System. "Veoh and its agents shall have and do reserve the right to monitor any User Material from time to time for any lawful purpose. Veoh may, without notice to you, remove or block content of any User Material from the Veoh Service, including disabling access to such User Material that you have downloaded through the Veoh Service." Id. As explained in detail in Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment, and admitted in Defendant's moving papers, Defendant did police the system, removed content and canceled accounts for violations. See Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment at §II-G; Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment at 4:6-10 (Veoh employees spot check for terms of use compliance and for proper categorization.) Clearly, Defendant controls all facets of its users' activity relating to www.veoh.com. Perhaps more salient however, are the similarities of the facts in the matter currently before the court and the elements of control the Ninth Circuit deemed relevant in the Napster II. In NapsterII the defendant facilitated the transmission of MP3 files between and among users through peer-to-peer file sharing. Napster's system allowed "its users to: (1) make MP3 music files stored on individual computer hard drives available for copying by other Napster users; (2)
-18PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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search for MP3 music files stored on other users' computers; and (3) transfer exact copies of the contents of other users' MP3 files from one computer to another via the Internet. These functions are made possible by Napster's MusicShare software, available free of charge from Napster's Internet site, and Napster's network servers and server-side software." A&M Records v. Napster, Inc., 239 F.3d 1004, 1011 (9th Cir. 2001). The index resided on Napster's servers, but the infringing files remained on the home computers of Napster's users. Napster expressly reserved the right to control access to its system and reserved the right to refuse service and terminate accounts for any reason. The Ninth Circuit upheld the district court's finding that Napster's right to exclude users from its service alone was likely to be sufficient to establish the right and ability to control. The Court wrote without equivocation, "[t]he ability to block infringers' access to a particular environment for any reason whatsoever is evidence of the right and ability to supervise." Napster II, 239 F.3d. at 1023. Here Defendant not only can control its users' activity through control of the index, it actually has control of all of the infringing material because the video files reside on Defendants servers along with the index. Defendant relies heavily on Hendrickson v. eBay in support of its assertion that it does not have the right and ability to control the actions of its users, in spite of the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Napster II. Hendrickson v. Ebay, Inc., 165 F. Supp. 2d 1082, 1094 (C.D. Cal. 2001)("Hendrickson"). However, Hendrickson is inapposite since Plaintiff does not seek to establish Defendant's right and ability to control merely upon Defendant's ability to remove infringing files. Defendant's high level of control is in complete contrast to the facts in Hendrickson. Id. For all of its reliance on Hendrickson, Defendant fails to explain the basis for the court's holding. Hendrickson involved the selling of infringing DVDs through eBay. The pro per plaintiff, a copyright holder, sued eBay, and eBay moved for summary judgment under 17 U.S.C. §512(c) as Defendant does here. The court found that eBay did not have the right and ability to control the infringing activity because, "eBay never has possession of, or opportunity to inspect, such items because such items are only in the possession of the seller". Id. at 1094. Defendant also relies on a Washington District Court's ruling that was based on Hendrickson, Corbis Corp. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 351 F. Supp. 2d 1090 (D. Wash.
-19PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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2004)("Corbis"). Corbis also found that Defendant Amazon did not have the right and ability to control when the infringing sale took place off line and Amazon never had possession of the pirated goods. Id. at 1110 ("Amazon is never in possession of the products sold by zShops vendors."). Unlike Hendrickson and Corbis, where the infringing items were physical products never in the possession of the defendants, Veoh took possession of the infringing works and processed, copied, made new versions and displayed the works entirely on its own servers. The other decision Defendant relies on to establish its lack of control is Perfect 10 v. Cybernet Ventures. Perfect 10 v. Cybernet Ventures, 213 F. Supp.2d 1146 (C.D. Cal. 2002)("Cybernet"). Cybernet charged customers a fee to access affiliate websites for the purposes of viewing adult photographs. The infringing works resided on the affiliate member websites. The court agreed with Hedrickson and CoStar that closing the safe harbor based on the mere ability to exclude users from the system is inconsistent with the statutory scheme. Cybernet at 1181. Nonetheless, the court found that there were sufficient facts to establish control, rendering a 17 U.S.C. §512(c) defense unlikely for Cybernet. This was true even though the infringing material resided not on defendant's servers, but on the servers of the affiliate websites. The elements indicative of control included prescreening of the affiliated sites, extensive advice to affiliate sites, prohibition of identical sites on its system, and prohibition of certain kinds of images. Id. at 1160, 1181. Here defendant's actions go further than the defendant in Cybernet. Defendant purported to license the works through its terms of use, reviewed the materials at various times, created infringing copies, created infringing Flash format versions of the works, extracted frames in order to create infringing .jpg files, and indexed the works. Moreover, the infringing works resided on Defendant's servers rather than on the servers of affiliates as in Cybernet. Unlike any of the above cases Defendant has the added element of control in that it actually engaged in directly infringing acts by creating the Flash versions of the works and the still-frame .jpg images. This is analogous to the dance hall operators "automatically" recording the evening's entertainment to audio cassette and giving patrons a copy to take home, or the flea market operators offering to transform their vendors' infringing records into audio cassettes or CDs because the new format would be easier for the vendors and their customers to use.
-20PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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By its Terms of Use, to which all users must accent, Defendant, "reserves the right to terminate [users] use of the Veoh Service if [Defendant] determine[s] that [users] have violated these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy." Ruoff Decl. in Support of Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment at ¶9 and Ex. B. Defendant admits that it has terminated 1,096 users for copyright infringement and 646 users for other terms of service related violations. Dunning Decl. at ¶12. Clearly Defendant imposes and enforces rules regarding the use of its system. Defendant also attempts to inject a knowledge requirement into 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(1)(B) by way of its argument that it does not have the right and ability to control, because "it is not feasible for Veoh to review every user submission before it is made available on the Veoh System." Defendant's Motion for Summary Judgment at 19:27-28. Moreover, this self-serving statement should be given no weight whatsoever, as Defendant has offered no evidence to support its assertion that review is not feasible. Moreover, when examined about this issue, at deposition, Defendant admitted that its evaluation of the feasibility of a review process consisted only of "informal", "off the cuff", "back of the envelope level" discussions that relied only on "guesstimates" and "speculation". Papa Deposition 141:12 - 145:3. When asked if Defendant considered whether or not it could reduce, as opposed to eliminate infringement, Defendant's CEO testified, "We just felt that we couldn't do it". Shapiro Depo. at 84:10-11 (emphasis added). Finally, even if Defendant could support its statement that review is not feasible, such an argument does not establish an inability to control. An organization financially benefiting from infringing activity cannot complain that its premises is too large to police. Arista Records, Inc. v. Flea World, Inc. 2006 U.S. Dist LEXIS 14988 at *37 (N.J.D., March 31, 2006)("[T]he Court is not persuaded by Defendants' argument that the Market is too large to police, because such an argument makes no sense. Defendants alone control the size of their market."). Defendant is in a position to decrease the number of submissions it processes to a number that it can reasonably manage, or add additional resources as needed. "If a business cannot be operated within the bounds of the
-21PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

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Copyright Act, then perhaps the question of its legitimate existence needs to be addressed." Playboy Enters. v. Webbworld, Inc., 968 F. Supp. 1171, 1175 (N.D. Tex. 1997). The uncontested facts establish that Defendant has the right and ability to decide what users can and cannot do on its system, including but not limited to, what type of files users can submit and what type of content can be contained within those files. Further, it has been clearly established that Defendant can and does police its system and removes or blocks users from its service for violations to its rules. Even if the legal standard required that Defendant be able to make a determination as to whether video files are "copyrighted" or "infringing" in order to find "the right and ability to control", which it does not, Defendant still has not set forth sufficient facts to establish its lack of control. Defendant argues that it cannot control the infringing activity because it cannot determine if any given video clip is infringing. However, this misstates the nature of the inquiry. Defendant's examination of a video file does not occur in a vacuum. Rather, Defendant is asked to determine authenticity in the context of acquiring the video file from someone. The question is whether under those circumstances, Defendant is able to take steps to determine if the individual is authorized to provide the material. The answer is yes. However, rather than make an inquiry, defendant turns a blind eye, allowing users to submit content with no explanation as to how they obtained it. Defendant does not ask who the submitting party is, who produced or created the video, who currently holds the rights to the video, how the submitting party came to acquire the authority to submit the video or any other question that might put it in a better position to determine if the user holds the copyright holder's authorization. Dunning Depo. 72:2-13. Later Defendant complains that it cannot determine if material is infringing simply by looking at it. Defendant cannot refuse to make even a basic inquiry and then complain that it is unable to determine whether or not a video file is infringing just by looking at the content. Forty-six states (including California), the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have recognized the importance of obtaining identifying information in determining the authenticity of copyrighted recordings. These states have passed laws (generally referred to as "true name and
-22PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

C-06-03926 (HRL)

Case 5:06-cv-03926-HRL

Document 83

Filed 08/14/2007

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address statutes") that make it an offense to sell music (or sometimes video) recordings without a label identifying the name and street address of the manufacturer.2 Twenty-two of these states also require the label to