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The Brave New World Of Internet Copyright Trolls

By Jonathan Bick
November 02, 2014

Copyright trolls are in the business of acquiring the right to bring lawsuits against alleged infringers and threatening to file copyright infringement claims in order to induce rapid settlements against large groups of defendants.

The term “troll” has been used in the patent arena since prior to 2000, but only recently have several non-author rights holders adopted a version of the patent troll business model using copyright rights and associated statutory damages on a large-scale basis.

The Intellectual Property Clause of the Constitution (U.S. Const. art. I, 8, cl. 8) and Copyright Act of 1976 (17 U.S.C. 102(a)) regulates copyrighted works. Infringement claims can be properly brought against “anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner.” 17 U.S.C. 501. The Copyright Act also affords rights holders two infringement remedies, either actual damages resulting or statutory damages. 17 U.S.C. 504.

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