Copyright troll
Encyclopedia
A copyright troll is a pejorative term for a party that enforces copyrights it owns for purposes of making money through litigation, in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic, generally without producing or licensing its own works for paid distribution. Critics object to the activity because they believe it does not encourage the production of creative works, instead making money from the inequities and unintended consequences
of high statutory damages
provisions in copyright laws intended to encourage creation of such works.
The term for and conception of a copyright troll began to appear in the mid-2000s. It derives from "patent troll
s", which are companies that enforce patent rights to earn money from companies that are selling products, without having products of their own for sale. It is distinguished from holders of large copyright portfolios, such as ASCAP's music licensing operation, who acquire copyrights in order to license and distribute them for a profit.
under the Dramatic Copyright Act of 1842.
In the 1990s, the SCO Group
's effort to destroy the free open source
operating system, Linux
, was viewed as copyright trolling by the approximately 1,500 companies from whom SCO demanded licensing royalties, based on a copyright that a court eventually ruled belonged instead to Novell
. Novell, by contrast, had no interest or intention of enforcing its copyright against the alleged infringers.
The term was also applied to two parties that separately sued Google
in 2006, after posting content they knew would be indexed by Google's Googlebot
spider, with the industry standard "noindex
" opt-out tags deliberately omitted. In Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google Inc., adult magazine Perfect 10 was described as a copyright troll for setting up image links with the intent to sue Google
for infringement after google added them to its image search service. In Field v. Google
, a Nevada lawyer took "affirmative steps" to get his legal writings included in Google's search results so that he could sue Google, and was ruled to have acted in bad faith.
was called a copyright troll by commentators, after it purchased copyrights to a number of old news articles from Stephens Media, publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal
, based on a business model
of suing bloggers and other Internet authors for statutory damages for having reproduced the articles on their sites without permission.
The matter was covered by the Los Angeles Times
, Bloomberg News, Wired News
, Mother Jones
, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Herald
, and other newspapers and news blogs, as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation
, which offered to assist the defendants. The paper's competitor, the Las Vegas Sun
, covered all 107 of the lawsuits as of September 1, 2010, describing it as the first known instance of a copyright troll buying the rights to a news story based on finding that its copyright had been infringed. The Review-Journal's publisher responded by defending the lawsuits, and criticizing the Sun for covering them.
In August, 2010, the company entered an agreement with WEHCO Media in Arkansas to pursue similar actions, and announced that it was in negotiation with a number of other publishers. Wired Magazine described the activity as "borrowing a page from the patent trolls", and noted that the company was demanding $75,000 from each infringer, and agreeing to settlements of several thousand dollars per defendant.
Unintended Consequences
Unintended Consequences is a novel by John Ross, first published in 1996 by Accurate Press. The story chronicles the history of the gun culture, gun rights and gun control in the United States from the early 1900s through the late 1990s...
of high statutory damages
Statutory damages
Statutory damages are a damage award in civil law, in which the amount awarded is stipulated within the statute rather than being calculated based on the degree of harm to the plaintiff. Lawmakers will provide for statutory damages for acts in which it is difficult to determine a precise value of...
provisions in copyright laws intended to encourage creation of such works.
The term for and conception of a copyright troll began to appear in the mid-2000s. It derives from "patent troll
Patent troll
Patent troll is a pejorative but questioned term used for a person or company who is a non-practicing inventor, and buys and enforces patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered by the target or observers as unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to...
s", which are companies that enforce patent rights to earn money from companies that are selling products, without having products of their own for sale. It is distinguished from holders of large copyright portfolios, such as ASCAP's music licensing operation, who acquire copyrights in order to license and distribute them for a profit.
Notable examples
One commentator describes Harry Wall, husband of nineteenth-century British comic singer Annie Wall, as the world's first copyright troll. Wall, a figure "notorious" for his personal antics as well as his copyright exploits, set up "the Authors', Composers' and Artists' Copyright Protection Office", to collect fees for unauthorized performances of works by often-deceased composers, based on the threat of litigation for statutory damagesStatutory damages
Statutory damages are a damage award in civil law, in which the amount awarded is stipulated within the statute rather than being calculated based on the degree of harm to the plaintiff. Lawmakers will provide for statutory damages for acts in which it is difficult to determine a precise value of...
under the Dramatic Copyright Act of 1842.
In the 1990s, the SCO Group
SCO Group
TSG Group, Inc. is a software company formerly called The SCO Group, Caldera Systems, and Caldera International. After acquiring the Santa Cruz Operation's Server Software and Services divisions, as well as UnixWare and OpenServer technologies, the company changed its focus to UNIX...
's effort to destroy the free open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
operating system, Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, was viewed as copyright trolling by the approximately 1,500 companies from whom SCO demanded licensing royalties, based on a copyright that a court eventually ruled belonged instead to Novell
Novell
Novell, Inc. is a multinational software and services company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Attachmate Group. It specializes in network operating systems, such as Novell NetWare; systems management solutions, such as Novell ZENworks; and collaboration solutions, such as Novell Groupwise...
. Novell, by contrast, had no interest or intention of enforcing its copyright against the alleged infringers.
The term was also applied to two parties that separately sued Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
in 2006, after posting content they knew would be indexed by Google's Googlebot
Googlebot
Googlebot is the search bot software used by Google, which collects documents from the web to build a searchable index for the Google search engine....
spider, with the industry standard "noindex
Noindex
The noindex HTML meta tag advises automated Internet bots to avoid indexing a Web page. There are a multitude of reasons why one might want to use this tag. These include preventing robots from trying to index very large database or pages that are very transitory, ones that one wishes to keep...
" opt-out tags deliberately omitted. In Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google Inc., adult magazine Perfect 10 was described as a copyright troll for setting up image links with the intent to sue Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
for infringement after google added them to its image search service. In Field v. Google
Field v. Google
Field v. Google, Inc., 412 F.Supp. 2d 1106 is a case where Google Inc. successfully defended a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Field argued that Google infringed his exclusive right to reproduce his copyrighted works when it "cached" his website and made a copy of it available on its search...
, a Nevada lawyer took "affirmative steps" to get his legal writings included in Google's search results so that he could sue Google, and was ruled to have acted in bad faith.
Righthaven cases
In 2010, copyright holding company Righthaven LLCRighthaven LLC
Righthaven LLC is a copyright holding company founded in early 2010, which enters agreements from its partner newspapers after finding that their content has been copied to online sites without permission, in order to engage in litigation against the site owners for copyright infringement...
was called a copyright troll by commentators, after it purchased copyrights to a number of old news articles from Stephens Media, publisher of the Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal is published in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada, and one of two daily newspapers in Las Vegas . It is the flagship publication of Stephens Media LLC...
, based on a business model
Business model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
of suing bloggers and other Internet authors for statutory damages for having reproduced the articles on their sites without permission.
The matter was covered by the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Bloomberg News, Wired News
Wired News
Wired News is an online technology news website, formerly known as HotWired, that split off from Wired magazine when the magazine was purchased by Condé Nast Publishing in the 1990s. Wired News was owned by Lycos not long after the split, until Condé Nast purchased Wired News on July 11, 2006...
, Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
, and other newspapers and news blogs, as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, which offered to assist the defendants. The paper's competitor, the Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas Sun
The Las Vegas Sun is a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper. It is one of Las Vegas, Nevada's two daily newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group....
, covered all 107 of the lawsuits as of September 1, 2010, describing it as the first known instance of a copyright troll buying the rights to a news story based on finding that its copyright had been infringed. The Review-Journal's publisher responded by defending the lawsuits, and criticizing the Sun for covering them.
In August, 2010, the company entered an agreement with WEHCO Media in Arkansas to pursue similar actions, and announced that it was in negotiation with a number of other publishers. Wired Magazine described the activity as "borrowing a page from the patent trolls", and noted that the company was demanding $75,000 from each infringer, and agreeing to settlements of several thousand dollars per defendant.