Re: personal liability for copyright infringement

On 09 Oct 1997, Mark Lemley <mlemley[_at_]mail.law.utexas.edu> wrote:
>
> Is there any set of circumstances under which a corporate officer can
> be held personally liable for acts of copyright infringement by the
> corporation, *without* piercing the corporate veil?

Yes. I don't have specific citations, but, among many other cases, there are a lot of cases brought by ASCAP and BMI against night clubs, radio stations etc., in which corporate officers are found liable.

The theory can be direct infringement - the officers ordered the infringement - or contributory infringement - they encouraged or aided in the infringement- or vicarious liability - they knew of and profited by the infringement.

    Bob Kreiss
    <kreiss[_at_]odo.law.udayton.edu> Received on Fri Oct 10 1997 - 13:40:40 GMT