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ARTICLE · 04 MARCH 2014

Hotfile Case Will Shape Copyright Law Online

Venable LLP
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Justin Pierce and Matthew Farley published "Hotfile Case Will Shape Copyright Law Online" in Law360 on February 10, 2014.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Justin Pierce
Justin Pierce
Matthew Farley
Matthew Farley

Justin Pierce and  Matthew Farley published "Hotfile Case Will Shape Copyright Law Online" in Law360 on February 10, 2014.

In a recent win for content owners that will surely shape copyright law online, Hotfile, a popular online file storage and download service, and its owner were ordered by a federal court in Florida to pay several major film studios $80 million for secondary copyright infringement. The case began in February 2011, when several major film studios sued Hotfile alleging direct and secondary copyright infringement. The crux of the film studios' claims was that Hotfile engaged in massive online infringement by knowingly and actively facilitating the flagrant reproduction and distribution of pirated television shows and movies through its website and online services. In this article, Pierce and Farley unpack Hotfile's mistakes.

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