Court Blocks Furniture Seller From Sending More DMCA Takedowns To eBay Over Competitor's Furniture

from the dmca-that-wicker dept

Thu, Nov 11th 2010 1:37pm — Mike Masnick

It's no secret that the DMCA can be used as a form of censorship and anti-competitive practices. Thankfully, at least some judges are catching on. Evan Brown has the story of how Zen Path, a company that sells furniture online, had been sending DMCA takedowns to eBay, after noticing competitor Design Furnishings selling very similar wicker furniture on eBay. It turns out that both sellers had the same Chinese supplier. It did appear that Design Furnishings may have used Zen Path's photos for its sales, but later removed them. Where things got bizarre is that the company then claimed that Design Furnishings violated Zen Path's "copyrights or patents" in selling the furniture. When Design Furnishings asked for proof of either such violation, rather than provide such proof, Zen Path first filed for a copyright registration on the design (something it apparently had not done previously) and started sending lots of DMCA takedowns to eBay (63 such notices). eBay, to protect itself from DMCA liability, took down the auctions and lowered the ratings on Design Furnishings' account, given the high number of infringement notices.

Design Furnishings sued to get a restraining order against Zen Path's DMCA takedowns, and the court issued a temporary restraining order, noting that even Zen Path, by its own arguments, appeared to realize that it had no copyright interest in its wicker furniture:

Here, defendant's applications for copyright protection claimed the works were sculptures or 3-D artwork or ornamental designs, indicating that defendant knew the limits of copyright protection. The pictures of the furniture, though, suggest that defendant impermissibly sought protection of the "industrial design" of the furniture. Moreover, the internal contradiction in the applications raises a strong inference that defendant subjectively knew it did not have a copyright infringement claim when it notified eBay. Accordingly, the court finds that plaintiff has a likelihood of success on the merits.

Furniture, as a useful item, is not copyrightable. You might be able to copyright a specific non-useful design element, but the overall furniture is simply not copyrightable. The court here is basically saying the fact that Zen Path clearly wanted to pretend that the chair was a sculpture was an indication that it knew the chairs themselves were not copyrightable, and thus filing the DMCA notices was an abuse of the DMCA.

It's pretty rare to see a court actually recognize an abuse of the DMCA, and even if this is a slightly odd case, it's certainly nice to see. You can read the full ruling after the jump.

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Filed Under: copyright, dmca, furniture
Companies: design furnishings, zen path

12 Comments

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J.D. (profile), 11 Nov 2010 @ 2:32pm

It's about time someone started to notice. I almost tend to think of this as bullying. The bigger guy tries to take down the smaller one because the smaller guy is becoming more successful. Whatever happened to competition?
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PRMan, 11 Nov 2010 @ 2:56pm

Isn't software a "useful item"?
Just thought I would ask...
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Mojo, 11 Nov 2010 @ 4:21pm

That's a great story, but sadly it makes you wonder how many cases of fraudulent takedown notices there are which are NOT caught.

Probably most of them, since i'd guess the majority of scammers sending them out aren't going to be idiotic enough to send out 63 for the same situation.

Just shows how anybody can shut down anybody else by sending a fraudulent takedown notice; if Ebay won't bother checking the validity of them just to be on the safe side, you can bet no one is.

There needs to be strict punishments in place for doing this.
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- Dan (profile), 11 Nov 2010 @ 6:13pm
  
  Re:
  There are. But thanks to regulatory capture, the punishments aren't enforced.
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Anonymous Coward, 12 Nov 2010 @ 7:17am

Patent, Copyright? When you both have the same Chinese supplier? You gave those away when you went to do business in China. Fools!
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Nauer, 12 Nov 2010 @ 7:40am

512(f)
512(f) should not be a subjective standard that allows for unreasonably, unknowing mistakes to be made. It promotes flagrant abuse of the DMCA, right up to the line crossed by this furniture company. It needs to change.
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CharlesFosterKane (profile), 12 Nov 2010 @ 5:17pm

Why Prisons Were Created
IMHO, the defendant appears to be nothing more than a corporate terrorist using claiming protection under the DMCA. I guess they were cynically hoping to drive their competitor out of business before an independent judiciary caught them. For once, the good guys win!

This type of behavior is what is killing small business in this country. It is bad enough that people use the legal system to win in court what they can't win through fair competition. It is even worse that there are blood-sucking attorneys willing to aid them all for a few dirty bucks. What ever happened to good old American fair competition?
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click clack sofa futon, 1 Dec 2010 @ 7:27am

report
All in all, organically grown, manufactured and assembled furniture in your bedroom will help your bedroom become more comfortable and cozier than before. With the benefits presented, it is surely worth getting organic furniture for your bedroom
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click clack sofa futon, 1 Dec 2010 @ 7:29am

report
All in all, organically grown, manufactured and assembled furniture in your bedroom will help your bedroom become more comfortable and cozier than before. With the benefits presented, it is surely worth getting organic furniture for your bedroom
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
santa (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 5:01am

The designs that prompted this paradigm shift were produced in the middle of the twentieth century, most of them well before one nine six zero. And yet they are still regarded internationally as symbols of the modern age, the present and perhaps even the future. Modern Classic Furniture became an icon of elegance and sophistication. Thanks.
Regards,
Scottsdale real estate
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santa, 12 Nov 2012 @ 1:54am

Forgetting glasses that sweat and vases that leak will cause water stains on wood. Some stains may just be cloudy discolorations while others can leave obvious marks on the wood. Thanks.f
Regards,
upvc front doors g2sgroup
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white bunk beds, 27 Jun 2017 @ 12:50pm

Selling through ebay
Selling through ebay is always a big hassle
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