|
View Case
|
|
Cited Cases
|
|
Citing Cases
|
|
Comment (0)
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HEALTHCARE ADVOCATES v. HARDING, EARLEY, FOLLMER
497 F.Supp.2d 627 (2007)
United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.
July 20, 2007.
II. STANDARD OF REVIEW Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(c) states that summary judgment is proper "if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and . . . the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." See also Hines v. Consol. Rail Corp.,926 F.2d 262, 267 (3d Cir.1991). The Court must ask "whether the evidence presents a sufficient disagreement to require submission to the jury or whether . . . one party must prevail as a matter of law." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,477 U.S. 242, 251-52, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The moving party has the initial burden of informing the court of the basis for the motion and identifying those portions of the record that demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett,477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). Summary judgment must be granted "against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. The nonmoving party must go beyond the allegations set forth in its pleadings and counter with evidence showing that there is a genuine factual dispute requiring a trial. Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(e); see Big Apple BMW, Inc. v. BMW of N. Am. Inc.,974 F.2d 1358, 1362-63 (3d Cir.1992). A genuine factual dispute exists when "a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party." Embrico v. U.S. Steel Corp.,404 F.Supp.2d 802, 817 (E.D.Pa. 2005). When a party fails to establish an element of their case, summary judgment must be granted. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. A. Copyright Infringement A person commits copyright infringement by violating one or more of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as enumerated in 17 U.S.C. § 106 (2007).2 Infringement occurs when a person reproduces, adapts, distributes, publicly performs or publicly displays a work protected by the Copyright Act in an unprivileged way. These exclusive rights of copyright holders are codified in statute at § 106 of the Copyright Act, and they delineate the boundary between copyright infringement and non-infringing use. In the event that infringement has occurred, an infringer may be excused from liability under the doctrine of fair use. Determining whether fair use applies in an infringement case is a mixed question of law and fact that this Court may decide. Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. v. Nation Enter.,471 U.S. 539, 560, 105 S.Ct. 2218, 85 L.Ed.2d 588 (1985). Fair use is a judicially created defense to a claim for copyright infringement. Congress codified this common law defense in the Copyright Act of 1976. 17 U.S.C. § 107.3 Under the doctrine, a court must consider four factors in making a determination that the defendant is entitled to a defense of fair use for his infringing activity. Those factors are: (1) the purpose and character of the use, (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion
used, and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. This doctrine is relevant as the Harding firm has offered it as a complete defense to their actions.
1. A screenshot is an image taken by the computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor or another visual output device. Usually this is a digital image taken by the host operating system or software running on the computer device, but it can also be a capture made by a camera or a device intercepting the video output of the computer. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, "Screenshot" available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Screenshot. 2. § 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following: (1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords; (2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work; (3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending; (4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly; (5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and (6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission. 3. § 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include — (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. The Second Circuit has said, "[t]he doctrine of fair use . . . permits courts to avoid rigid application of the copyright statute when, on occasion, it would stifle the very creativity which that law is designed to foster." Iowa State Univ. Research Found., Inc. v. Am. Broad. Co.,621 F.2d 57, 60 (2d Cir.1980). 4. It should be noted that the alleged infringing activity happened two weeks after the complaint in the Underlying Lawsuit was filed. Healthcare Advocates did not attach the materials that defendants, clients of the Harding firm, were alleged to have infringed. The defendants were not informed about what exactly they were alleged to have infringed. Acting prudently and reasonably, the Harding firm attempted to find all publicly available information on Healthcare Advocates in their efforts to decipher the allegations contained in the Complaint. 5. INTERROGATORY NO. 15Explain when and how HEFF first became aware that information relating to the conduct of its representatives on July 9, 2003 and July 14, 2003 as alleged in the Complaint may be relevant to the Underlying Action. 6. Copies of the archived screenshots were submitted to this Court in camera during the Underlying Litigation. Healthcare Advocates' has not claimed that this action by the Harding firm constitutes infringement of their copyright rights. According to a leading treatise on copyright law, no court has found that presentation of the copyrighted works to a court on which the infringement action is brought constitutes an instance of infringement. 4 Melville B. Nimmer & David Nimmer, Nimmer on Copyrights, § 13.05[D][2] (2003). This Court is not of the opinion that this action would be infringement, but a claim to this effect has not been raised, so this Court need not fully address the question. 7. § 301. Preemption with respect to other laws
(a) On and after January 1, 1978, all legal or equitable rights that are equivalent to any of the exclusive rights within the general scope of copyright as specified by section 106 in works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression and come within the subject matter of copyright as specified by sections 102 and 103, whether created before or after that date and whether published or unpublished, are governed exclusively by this title. Thereafter, no person is entitled to any such right or equivalent right in any such work under the common law or statutes of any State.
|
|
|
|
|