Anyone being named in this case ( or any other), please do you homework before you hand over a settlement to this jerk! The copyright registration date for "Dexxxter" (referenced in this particular case) is 4/22/2011. The date of publication was 9/29/2009. This may not mean much to most, but if you dig into the copyright code it states:
§ 412 • Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies
for infringement
In any action under this title, other than an action brought for a violation of
the rights of the author under section 106A(a), an action for infringement of the
copyright of a work that has been preregistered under section 408(f) before the
commencement of the infringement and that has an effective date of registration
not later than the earlier of 3 months after the first publication of the work or 1
month after the copyright owner has learned of the infringement, or an action
instituted under section 411(c), no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s
fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for—
(1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced
before the effective date of its registration; or
(2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the
work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration
is made within three months after the first publication of the work.
This means that Mr Steele would not be awarded statutory damages or attorney fees ( as he settlement letter scares you with). He could try in court for lost revenue, which he would have to prove.
Seems, that the dates are in the defendants favor! Do your homework!
Pink Lotus Entertainment LLC v. Does 1-20
§ 412 • Registration as prerequisite to certain remedies
for infringement
In any action under this title, other than an action brought for a violation of
the rights of the author under section 106A(a), an action for infringement of the
copyright of a work that has been preregistered under section 408(f) before the
commencement of the infringement and that has an effective date of registration
not later than the earlier of 3 months after the first publication of the work or 1
month after the copyright owner has learned of the infringement, or an action
instituted under section 411(c), no award of statutory damages or of attorney’s
fees, as provided by sections 504 and 505, shall be made for—
(1) any infringement of copyright in an unpublished work commenced
before the effective date of its registration; or
(2) any infringement of copyright commenced after first publication of the
work and before the effective date of its registration, unless such registration
is made within three months after the first publication of the work.
This means that Mr Steele would not be awarded statutory damages or attorney fees ( as he settlement letter scares you with). He could try in court for lost revenue, which he would have to prove.
Seems, that the dates are in the defendants favor! Do your homework!
Here are links to the code to check out yourself:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/
Here are the links to look up a copyright, and the copyright basics manual:
http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
http://www.copyri ght.gov/circs/circ1.pdf
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