Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC
Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Court | United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit |
Full case name | Peter Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC, Craig Carton, Ray Rossi |
Argued | January 25 2011 |
Decided | June 14 2011 |
Citation | 650 F.3d 295 |
Holding | |
The defendants' copying of a magazine picture constituted copyright infringement, and the defendants' removal of the photographer's credit constituted a violation of the DMCA. | |
Court membership | |
Judges sitting | Julio M. Fuentes, Michael Chagares, Louis H. Pollak |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Julio M. Fuentes, joined by Michael Chagares, Louis H. Pollak |
Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC is a 2011
This case marked the first time a circuit court weighed in on the scope of DMCA §1202, which prohibits the removal of Copyright Management Information (CMI). CMI is a collection of facts about the copyright on a work that is somehow attached to that work. The Third Circuit stated that the statute applied to all CMI, and was not limited to CMI in technological systems.[2]
Background
The March 2006 issue of
In June 2007, Murphy's attorney sent a notice of copyright infringement to WKXW, demanding that the station stop its infringing activities. WKXW complied with the request, removing the unaltered picture as well as all of the user-modified versions from its website. In response, Carton and Rossi complained on air about Murphy's conduct, allegedly saying that Murphy was "not to be trusted" and that people "should avoid doing business" with him. Carton and Rossi also alleged that Murphy "was a homosexual."[1][3]
In April 2008, Murphy brought suit for direct,
Opinion of the Court
On June 14, 2011, the
Violation of the DMCA
Murphy claimed that WKXW's removal of his photographer's credit when copying the picture constituted a violation of the
No person shall, without the authority of the copyright owner or the law ... intentionally remove or alter any copyright management information ... knowing ... that it will induce, enable, facilitate, or conceal an infringement of any right under this title.
Copyright management information (CMI) is defined in 17 U.S.C. §1202(c), quoted in part as follows:[4]
... the term "copyright management information" means any of the following information conveyed in connection with copies ... of a work, including in digital form ...
(2) The name of, and other identifying information about, the author of a work.
The district court relied on the decision from IQ Group v. Wiesner, which stated that due to the legislative history of the DMCA, CMI should be interpreted as "a component of an automated copyright protection or management system."[5] Using this analysis, the district court concluded that a print credit in a magazine is not CMI under the DMCA, and removing the credit is not a violation of §1202.[3]
The Third Circuit disagreed with the district court's interpretation, holding that the wording of §1202 did not limit its scope to copyright management information only as part of automated systems. As this was the first appellate court to address the scope of CMI in the DMCA, the Third Circuit relied primarily on a plain reading of §1202 to make its decision. The court also addressed the intention of §1202, and found that there was no obvious contradiction between the plain wording and the goal of the legislation. The Third Circuit therefore held that the actions of the radio station and talk show hosts did constitute removal of CMI under the DMCA.[1]
Copyright Infringement
Murphy alleged direct infringement for the station's use of the unaltered picture, and contributory and vicarious infringement for the user-modified pictures. The defendants claimed that the station's actions qualified as fair use under the Copyright Act.[3]
The district court held that both the user-modified and the unaltered copies of Murphy's picture had
Murphy did not appeal the district court's decision regarding the user-modified images; thus, the Third Circuit analyzed fair use for only the unaltered copy. The Third Circuit, disagreeing with the district court, ruled that WKXW's use of the copy of the photograph had the same purpose as the original: to illustrate Carton and Rossi winning the "best shock jocks" award. Furthermore, while Murphy did not suffer direct economic harm from WKXW's copying, the court noted that widespread manifestations of similar copying would be economically harmful to photographers in general. Consequently, the Third Circuit found that WKXW's use of the unaltered picture was not a fair use.[1]
Defamation
Regarding Murphy's claims of defamation, the district court, citing precedents, stated:[3]
In determining whether a statement is defamatory, a court 'must consider the content, verifiability, and context of the challenged statements' ... Verifiability refers to whether a statement can be proven true or false, and statements that are not verifiable, such as insults and name-calling, even if offensive, are not defamatory.
Using this analysis, the district court ruled that in the context of Carton and Rossi being
On appeal, the Third Circuit decided that the district court had wrongly granted
Ramifications and Current Status
Prior to this decision, only district courts had addressed the scope of §1202, with their decisions differing amongst several interpretations.
A broad CMI interpretation would allow §1202 to overlap with traditional copyright law, and the defendants' lawyer in this case indicated that this decision "create[d] uncertainty as to ... what triggers liability."[10] The main concern over this overlap is that certain exemptions under the Copyright Act, such as fair use, would still be violations under the DMCA if CMI is removed.[9] A possible mitigating factor to this concern is that §1202 prohibits removal of CMI only when it is done to aid copyright infringement, meaning a §1202 claim should only succeed when actual or potential copyright infringement exists.[11]
As of April 2014, the status of this case remains active and unresolved. [12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC, 10-2163 (3rd Circuit 2011).
- ^ Eriq Gardner (June 15, 2011). "How Two Nude Radio DJs Could Impact Copyright Law". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Murphy v. Millennium Radio Group LLC, 08-1743 (US District Court, D. New Jersey 2010).
- ^ a b c 17 U.S.C. § 1202
- ^ IQ Group, Ltd. v. Wiesner Pub., LLC, 409 F.Supp.2d 587 (United States District Court, D. New Jersey 2006).
- ^ 17 U.S.C. § 107
- ^ "Photographer awarded $500,000 for removal of CMI". Copyright Infringement Advisor. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ^ 17 U.S.C. § 1201
- ^ a b c Susuk Lim (2011). "A Survey of the DMCA's Copyright Management Information Protections" (PDF). Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts. 6 (4): 297–309.
- ^ Spoto, MaryAnn (June 16, 2011). "N.J. court reinstates copyright suit against 'Jersey Guys' DJs". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved November 7, 2011.
- ^ Greg Lastowka (2007). "Digital Attribution: Copyright and the Right to Credit" (PDF). Boston University Law Review. 87 (41): 41–89. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
- ^ Frangiosa, Christina (September 2011). "Removal of Photographer's "Gutter Credit" is Potentially Actionable Under DMCA". Privacy and IP Law Blog. Retrieved November 8, 2011.