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ARTICLE · 30 JULY 2015

Judge Awards WordPress Owner Damages In False DMCA Takedown Case

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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For the first time, a magistrate judge has awarded money damages in a case involving the filing of a DMCA takedown notice with material misrepresentations.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
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For the first time, a magistrate judge has awarded money damages in a case involving the filing of a DMCA takedown notice with material misrepresentations. See Automattic Inc. v. Steiner, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182295 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 6, 2014).

The blog post spurring the takedown was uploaded to WordPress.com─a web-publishing platform owned by plaintiff Automattic─ and included information student journalist and plaintiff Oliver Hotham received after reaching out to question Straight Pride UK. In response to his questions, Hotham received a PDF reply entitled "Press Statement," by defendant who identified himself as press officer of Straight Pride UK. Hotham's blog post identified Straight Pride as an organization deeply troubled by acceptance of homosexuality, and included quotes from Straight Pride's statement that "coming out as straight or heterosexual... evokes emotions of fear, relief, pride and embarrassment." On the day of the posting, defendant sent Hotman

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