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Photo Agency's Suit Against <i>Oh No They Didn't!</i> At Ninth Circuit

By By Amanda Bronstad
October 31, 2016

A photo agency that sued the owner of online tabloid Oh No They Didn't! for copyright infringement is hoping to reverse a ruling that threw out its case, prompting Pinterest and others to weigh in and argue that reviving the case could erode legal protections afforded to Internet service providers.

A lawyer for Mavrix, which supplies celebrity photos — including candid shots of Katy Perry, Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian — to publications like People and Us Weekly, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit last month that a Central District of California summary judgment ruling in 2014 should be reversed because LiveJournal Inc., the owner of ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com took an active role in posting more than 40 of Mavrix's copyrighted photos.

In taking an active role in posting the photos, the photo agency argued, LiveJournal was not protected under the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which shields Internet service providers from copyright infringement claims. For its part, LiveJournal maintains it plays no role in deciding what gets on the site, which relies on third parties to submit photos.

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