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Originally Posted by punkpred
In your professional opinion, do you think that this could be a chain reaction and many others will come out and sue the illegals?
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No. Most companies I have consulted with either havent used the proper forms -- work for hire agreements with their videographers and editors or havent actually employed the videographer and editor as employees in order for them to own the copyrights to their own videos. One defense to copyright infringement is that the company filing the lawsuit does not actually own the rights. In copyright just because you pay for it doesnt mean you own it. Copyright is a property right and can only be transfer from the videographer to the company by way of a written instrument or if they are actually an employee of the company by using the traditional definition of employee - ie., salary with taxes deducted.
And then there is the fact that most companies dont bother to even actually file for registration. Without a copyright registration you cannot even file the lawsuit. If the registration is filed after the infringement the company would be limited to damages such as actual damages and not be able to ask for the statutory copyright damages that allow for large recoveries. Actual damages are difficult to prove and will require the services of an expert opinion. Which means that usually it is not worth even filing the lawsuit. Actual damages can be difficult to prove.
And then there's the cost of experts. We just retained an expert in another copyright case which is rather simple compared to this one and I expect the expert's fee in that case to be in $25,000-$30,000 price range.
In this case, I am sure that PV has all their Is dotted and Ts crossed. Jenner and Block would not overlook the obvious. They are too good.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Allison
Just to clarify since it hasn't hit the online dockets, this case was actually filed last week. The U.S. Gov't case was just a coincidence with timing. Couldn't really plan for something like that.
~Alli
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Interesting. But good timing none-the-less. Good luck.