Re: personal liability for copyright infringement

On 10/9/97, 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. Under the concept of vicarious liability for infringement, corporate officers as well as majority shareholders can be held liable for infringement. As I recall the criteria is they were in a position to know or should have known of the infringement. I believe for shareholder liability, there is also a requirement that they must have been in a position to benefit financially from the infringement. This generally means that officers and shareholders of closely held corporations will almost always be found vicariously liable and therefore you do not need to pierce the corporate veil. Look at the cases cited in 17 USCA Sec 501.

Interestingly, I have also found cases that hold that copyright infringement is considered to be the kind of willful or malicious damage to property that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. There are about five cases on this issue, all of which have followed this reasoning.

Stephen J. Hyland
<shyland[_at_]computer-lawyer.com> Received on Fri Oct 10 1997 - 17:21:12 GMT