Judge bans FTD to name copyrighted works on usenet forum

In an ex-parte proceeding yesterday, the Dutch court of The Hague held that listing the name of a copyrighted work, is a distribution of the work and thereby a copyright infringing act. The court reached this conclusion in the case between the production company Eyeworks and usenet community FTD. On an FTD forum, the description of an uploaded file contains a reference to the name " Komt een vrouw bij de dokter".

The verdict shows that the court followed the reasoning of Eyeworks lawyer. "In any event FTD, by enabling spots that provide access to “Komt een vrouw bij de dokter” files on the usenet of  its FTD Application, creates an entirely new distribution channel for these files, making her co-publisher, at least co-responsible for the distribution, regardless of who exactly sends the files."

Due to the nature of an ex-parte order, FTD is not heard as a defendant during the trial. The lawyer who assists FTD, is surprised by the verdict. "Talking about unauthorized media files or publishing links to those files isn’t copyright infringement, determined judges in each case in the last six years. This verdict goes against it."

FTD will appeal the verdict of the court of The Hague. The hearing is in next week.

14 May 2010