Perfect 10 Aiming To Lose Yet Again; Sues MegaUpload

from the setting-legal-precedents-left-and-right dept

The company Perfect 10 has a long history of filing ridiculous copyright infringement lawsuits, and losing nearly every single time. For a rather detailed look at Perfect 10's standard operating procedure, you really owe it to yourself to read the countersuit filed by Rapidshare last summer, which detailed all sorts of claims against the company -- including that its entire reason for being is to find companies to sue for copyright infringement, and that it even hopes to spread its copyright images as widely as possible, in order to have more targets to sue. The company is also famous for not actually using official takedown procedures, and filing obviously faulty takedown notices. And the thing is, Perfect 10 seems to lose in court pretty consistently. In almost every case that we're aware of, the judge ends up smacking down Perfect 10 in the end. Apparently, the company just can't get enough legal losses, as it's now suing cyberlocker site MegaUpload, and making all the usual claims. Given that the court has (so far) been siding with similar cyberlocker Rapidshare over Perfect 10, you have to wonder if this will just be yet another legal loss.

Of course, Perfect 10 has been useful in some ways. The various rulings against it in lawsuits have set useful precedents (mainly in the 9th Circuit) concerning how thumbnails and embedded files are not directly infringing. The lawsuits have also helped show that search engines shouldn't be liable for what they find. In other words, Perfect 10's lawsuits tend to be so ridiculous that they help demonstrate the ridiculous logical conclusions of arguments regularly used in other copyright infringement lawsuits. Thankfully, however, Perfect 10 has been so aggressive with its lawsuits that it has helped provide strong precedents and defenses for those sued in other cases, under circumstances that might not be quite as extreme. So while we roll our eyes at each new Perfect 10 lawsuit, it should be recognized that these lawsuits have created a decent framework for recognizing that secondary and contributory liability for copyright infringement has limits.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: copyright
Companies: megaupload, perfect 10, rapidshare


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. icon
    drewmerc (profile), 3 Feb 2011 @ 4:32am

    is it just me that thinks perfect 10 is out just to set precedents and not in it for the money

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    bob, 3 Feb 2011 @ 4:50am

    Hummm Drewmerc Might Have It Right

    Perfect 10 is a consortium funded by the various digital locker companies to better create legal precedent framework for future use against the RIAA and MPAA and other so called rights holder groups.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    abc gum, 3 Feb 2011 @ 5:25am

    "its entire reason for being is to find companies to sue for copyright infringement, and that it even hopes to spread its copyright images as widely as possible, in order to have more targets to sue."

    Sounds like the WBC - one sad difference being the WBC has won in court.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Feb 2011 @ 5:59am

    If I were Andrew Bridges, I would make the Big Guys an offer they cannot refuse: hire me and I will have a friend sue us so we will surely win the case and you gain legal protection.

    http://www.winston.com/index.cfm?contentID=24&itemID=13402

    Mr. Bridges ranks nationally among the foremost IP litigators, with important victories in trial and appellate courts as lead counsel in notable intellectual property cases, including:

    •the defense of MasterCard in Perfect 10 v. Visa and MasterCard, a landmark decision on secondary liability of credit card companies under copyright and trademark law, in both the trial appellate courts (arguing for all defendants)
    •the defense of Google in Perfect 10 v. Google and Perfect 10 v. Amazon.com, a landmark decision on fair use, the display and distribution rights under copyright law, and secondary liability under copyright law as applied to search engines

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    average_joe (profile), 3 Feb 2011 @ 6:33am

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. icon
    weneedhelp (profile), 3 Feb 2011 @ 8:39am

    At least they are consistent. LOL.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    theangryintern (profile), 3 Feb 2011 @ 8:46am

    Maybe they should go back to what they used to be good at: publishing pictures of really hot naked women.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. icon
    The Infamous Joe (profile), 3 Feb 2011 @ 10:00am

    Heroes

    Perfect 10, making IP laws more sensible one DVDA at a time.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    Rachel Storms, 3 Feb 2011 @ 2:12pm

    content is free

    thats the new reality, adapt or die

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Qûr Tharkasdóttir, 4 Feb 2011 @ 1:19am

    The conspirationist suggests:

    Well, maybe these Perfect 10 are sponsored by the folks at Pirate Bay. That would be quite farsighted indeed.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Raichel, 14 Feb 2011 @ 6:45am

    Free Docket

    Free docket for this case can be found right on the home page of http://FreeCourtDockets.com.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    Norm Zada, 1 Apr 2011 @ 12:47pm

    Get your facts right

    H'mmm A google AdSense affiliate. You might start off by getting one fact right. Then you can try to get a second fact right, and go from there.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.