Law Professor (?!?) Claims Copyright Infringement Because Blog Uses Faculty Photo In Blog Post [Update]

from the check-out-copyright-law-sometime,-prof dept

Wed, Nov 4th 2009 8:52am — Mike Masnick

Just because you're a law professor, it doesn't mean you really understand the law, apparently. Eric Goldman (a law professor who does understand the law) alerts us to a bizarre lawsuit involving University of Miami law professor D. Marvin Jones, who was the subject of a series of blog posts on the popular law blog, AboveTheLaw, concerning a 2007 attempt where Jones was detained by police for allegedly soliciting a prostitute -- something he vehemently claims was not true, and authorities did, in fact, drop the charges and expunge the record. Jones makes a few different claims against ATL, all of which seem frivolous and unlikely to stand, but the most ridiculous of all is the claim that his copyright was violated by ATL using his faculty photo. A few problems with that: It's quite unlikely that Jones actually holds the copyright on the photo, and he makes no effort to show that the copyright was ever registered (a necessary prerequisite in bringing a copyright infringement lawsuit). And, of course, if somehow it turns out he does own the copyright and did register it, it's still an obvious (not even close) fair use claim. Now it's quite clear that the posts were embarrassing to Jones -- especially assuming that it's true that the original detainment was bogus, but it's difficult to see how bringing a poorly thought out lawsuit against the site fixes that. If anything, it seems to reflect even more poorly on Jones. Update: Good news. Above The Law is reporting that Prof. Jones has dismissed the lawsuit. Hopefully this means he came to his sense after seeing all of the coverage -- most coming from other lawyers highlighting how problematic this lawsuit was from the beginning.

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Filed Under: copyright, d. marvin jones, law professor, photos

19 Comments

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Mike C. (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 8:12am

Shocked and amazed...
What... no mention of the Streisand Effect? Or has that been hit with a copyright claim too... lol.
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Anonymous Poster, 4 Nov 2009 @ 9:02am

D. Marvin Jones, meet the Streisand Effect.

Streisand Effect, meet D. Marvin Jones.

You two play nice now.
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Dmitriy Plaks (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 9:10am

When you have a hammer, everything seems like a nail.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:04am

Eh, maybe he understands *exactly* how the law works. It often works to make people cave rather than go through the trouble to fight a lawsuit, though hopefully that won't be the case this time.
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deadzone (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:06am

Crazy
Heh - the Internet has made people so stupid.

The reality is that you draw attention to yourself when you react in such a way. With the Internet, this rule definitely applies and it's much faster and more widespread.

Just keep your mouth shut, let it blow over, and then move on. Easy.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:17am

The hell?
ATL is a great blog for lawyers, but it is by nature very gossipy. Everyone knows that. D. Jones should take a page from Nixon Peabody and realize that the only winning move is not to play.

(Disclosure, I helped fan the flames of the NP/ATL dustup while NP was being problematic.)
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Fushta, 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:34am

Re: Crazy
Stupid was around looong before the Internet came along. Stupid (or desperate) people act stupidly, with, or without, the Internet. It is possible that the Internet boosts their Stupid Factor by 100%.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:39am

Pls explain how it's an obvious fair use claim? They're using the entire work, and not for purposes of commentary on or parody of the work.
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Your Friendly Neighborhood Librarian, 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:40am

Revised joke
You know what they call the guy who graduates last in law school? -- A lawyer.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:49am

You DO NOT need to register a work in order to bring a lawsuit for copyright infringement. You only need to register it if you want to claim treble damages. You are always claiming that others don't get this right. See how easy it is to get it wrong?
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Dark Helmet (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 10:59am

Re:
"They're using the entire work, and not for purposes of commentary on or parody of the work."

How is a peice discussing a lawyer acting outside of the law not clearly commentary?
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 11:01am

If all you have is a (United States Patent and Trademark system), everything looks like a (lawsuit).
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Griffon, 4 Nov 2009 @ 11:02am

Copyright dose not have to be registered to bring suit, you just for addition damages. You own the copyright of any image you make (in most normal cases) unless you have contractually released it.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 11:14am

Re:
"Pls explain how it's an obvious fair use claim? They're using the entire work, and not for purposes of commentary on or parody of the work."

News reporting is fair use (under Section 107)
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Kevin, 4 Nov 2009 @ 11:36am

Law Prof. Complaint
You can view or download the complaint with all its poor grammar, spelling, and legal assertions HERE.
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wheels4me2 (profile), 4 Nov 2009 @ 11:40am

I hope this blows up in his face in a big way. What does the UofMiami Law School have to say about their faculty not understanding fair use?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Nov 2009 @ 11:59am

Check Above The Law now; Jones has dismissed the charges.
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Iron, 5 Nov 2009 @ 11:03pm

Poor guy just freaked out when he got accused of soliciting that prostitute. He probably just wanted to defend his honor and wasn't quite thinking clearly. Imagine what it'd be like if someone wrongly accused you of that and it would likely cost you your livelihood. He dismissed the lawsuit... I think we can safely forgive him of any internet transgressions he made at this point.
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