Patent infringement occurs when someone uses, makes, sells, or imports a patented invention without the permission of the patent holder. This can result in legal action and potential damages for the infringing party. It's important for businesses and individuals to be aware of patent laws and to ensure that they are not infringing on any existing patents.

1. Indirect Infringement
Prof Merges
3.2.09

2. Agenda
• Indirect Liability
• Remedies (briefly)

3. Basic Principles
• Tort foundations: master-servant rule,
vicarious liability, etc.
• Common law flavor here

4. Back to Sony
• Already covered direct infringement (fair use)
• Now: contributory infringement

5. Balance of power in IP Policy
• P. 573: Supreme Court traditionally reluctant
to expand copyright protection to deal with
new technologies
• This is a job for Congress

6. Procedural issues
• Not a direct infringement case
• Not a class action brought by or on behalf of
all copyright owners
• Limits of adjudication? Who will resolve
these issues? (Veto players in Congress)

7. Sony’s participation in
infringement
“[T]hey have sold equipment with constructive
knowledge of the fact that their customers
may use that equipment to make
unauthorized copies of copyrighted
material.”
-- P. 575

9. P 575, n. 1
• A finding of contributory infringement in this
case would amount to granting the right to
control sale of VCRs to copyright holders
• Can’t extend copyright that far

10. “The sale of copying equipment …
does not constitute contributory
infringement if the product is
widely used for legitimate,
unobjectionable purposes. Indeed,
it need merely be capable of
substantial noninfringing uses.”
- p. 576

12. Infringement Machines or Digital
Distribution with Incidental
copying?
• Viacom v. YouTube
(Google)

13. Copyright Remedies
• Civil, criminal
• Injunction, forfeiture, damages
– Statutory damages: Up to $30,000/infringed
work; $150,000 per intentionally infringed work

14. Copyright damages
• Plaintiff’s loss OR Defendant’s gain (compare
to patent)
• Defendant’s gain (disgorgement): Copyright
owner need only establish defendant’s gross
revenues; burden on defendant to prove net
profit was less

15. Sheldon v. MGM
• Play: Dishonored Lady
• Movie: Letty Lynton

18. Madeleine Smith & Scottish
murder case

22. Chief Justice Hughes

23. Relative contributions
• Infringing material
• Original initiative of the infringer
• P. 627