Below is the transcript of my January 26, 2012, webinar presentation sponsored by the International Executive Resources Group focusing on protecting intellectual property here and abroad from new forms of online infringement and brand attacks. But first a word of warning. My talk runs for about 45 minutes and therefore this is a long post. Here is a quick overview of what I cover.

 
Andrew will speak at a webinar on January 26, 2012 at 10:00 am sponsored by the International Executive Resources Group on protecting your IP in the US and abroad from new forms of online infringements and brand attacks.
Andrew will begin by discussing three reasons why global infringement is a growing and what governments and copyright holders are doing here, in Europe and China to combat it.

         
Mastering Rubik’s Cube may be easier. Predicting the amount of statutory damages that will be awarded in copyright infringement litigation continues to confound attorneys on both sides of the fence. Why? Here are some reasons.
But first a few words of explanation.  I originally wrote this post in April of 2010. I decided to update it after some of the cases I mentioned went through further appeals and retrials.  I kept the same title (so you may see the earlier version come up on Google searches) but I substantially rewrote this version.

 
Copyright creators should applaud the First Circuit’s decision in Sony v. Tenenbaum. Although the holding is narrow, the balance of the opinion is a resounding victory for copyright enforcement.
District Judge Nancy Gertner in this case held unconstitutional a jury award of statutory damages even though the award was within the statutory range that Congress had set.

 
The Advanced IP Forum for Advertising Counsel will take place in NY from April 27-29. The program offers an impressive list of speakers from the content and media industries. Andrew will moderate a panel at this Forum on April 28. The program brochure is here
The April 28 panel will focus on combating IP infringement on the internet.

 
Lime Wire continues to educate regarding statutory damages. The latest novel issue it decided is whether a judgment for statutory damages against an individual infringer for copyright infringement of a work in one action bars a statutory award in a second action against a secondarily liable defendant who induced that infringement. In other words where two (or more) infringers are jointly and severally liable, does recovery of an award of statutory damages against one infringer in one action bar a statutory award against the other infringer in a second action.

 
The Arista Records v. Lime Wire litigation in the Southern District of N.Y., headed for a jury trial in early May, is a statutory damages tutorial. Judge Kimba Wood  has decided a number of issues of first impression dealing with the availability of statutory damages in copyright litigation involving secondary and joint and several liability. The statutory damage issues, now answered, include:
1.

Sony BMG  v. Tenenbaum
Here is the audio of the nine minute podcast I recently did for Suffolk University Law School discussing the district court’s decision in Sony BMG v. Tanenbaum and its impact on copyright enforcement if not overturned on appeal. If for some reason you can’t listen to it here, Legal Talk Network also posted the podcast here.

 
I know the title sounds a bit  provocative.  But the opinion in Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum protects a willful music downloader in copyright infringement litigation based on a bizarre interpretation of the Digital Theft Deterrence Act of 1999. Here is my article published in a recent BNA Patent Trademark & Copyright Journal (respectfully) critical of the court’s opinion.

On July 9, Judge Nancy Gertner in Sony BMG v. Tenenbaum did what no court has ever done before. The court held unconstitutional an award of statutory damages in copyright litigation even though the award was within the statutory range set by Congress. This ruling, if affirmed on appeal, will change the shape of copyright litigation for years to come.