Re: copyright infringement by public officials and entities

On Sun, 2 Apr 2000, Greg Erkins <gerkins[_at_]gci.net> wrote:
>
> Does anyone know of any cases with respect to the liability of a
> 1) state, 2) a municipality, 3) a police department, and 4) an
> individual police officer for copyright infringement?

To that question, yes, state and municipalities can be held liable for infringement. There was an instance about 2-3 years ago where the City of Philadelphia settled for a sum of approximately $121,000 for a claim of infringement from the SPA (Software Publishers Association, which is now the SIIA) for unlicensed software installed on municipal computers.

I would tend to doubt, however, that police confiscation of a computer could be deemed copyright infringement, if that's what you're suggesting. That would be akin to suggesting that police are guilty of auto theft when they impound a car.

Marty Hayes
<9ball[_at_]hostsite.net> Received on Tue Apr 04 2000 - 15:51:14 GMT