Seattle Trademark Lawyer

Norm Zada, founder of Perfect 10, talks to InsideCounsel about losing millions to copyright infringement, how he’d stop infringers, and why the Ninth Circuit was wrong in deciding his case. Here’s a sample:

InsideCounsel: “The 9th Circuit ruled 2-1 that the credit card companies were not liable for contributory copyright [and trademark] infringement because they did not ‘materially contribute’ to the infringements. What is wrong with this reasoning?”

Mr. Zada: “Some of the panel just doesn’t get it. It is not the policy of the U.S. to aid and abet those who profit from massive theft…. We know what happens to someone who is fencing stolen property. There is civil and criminal liability. But if you are fencing $50 billion of stolen IP, you don’t even have any civil liability, according to this panel. It is unbelievable…. According to the majority of the panel, this doesn’t contribute to infringement, even though we allege that these infringing Web sites wouldn’t be in business without these credit card systems…. The ruling makes no sense and is a horrific departure from prior interpretations of contributory infringement. The standard here would vitiate contributory liability.”

STL discussion of Perfect 10, Inc. v. Visa Int’l Svc. Ass’n., __ F.3d __, 2007 1892885, No. 05-05170 (9th Cir.), here and here.