Pornographers Trying To Muck Up Copyright Law

Lawsuits brought by porn puveyor Perfect 10 against assorted credit card companies assert a secondary liability theory for processing payments to websites that allegedly infringe the copyrights in pornographic works. If the Ninth Circuit finds the credit card companies liable under theories of contributory and/or vicarious infringement, this would represent an expansive extension of copyright liability that is based on commercial ties with infringers, even if the accused companies weren’t aware that they were doing business with infringers. Perfect 10 lost in district court, (see also) (N.D. Cal. opinion here), but reports are mixed about oral arguments that took place yesterday before the Ninth Circuit. A previous post about Perfect 10’s suit against Google is accessible here.

–Ann Bartow