CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc.

373 F.3d 544 (2004)

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CoStar Group, Inc. v. LoopNet, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
373 F.3d 544 (2004)

  • Written by Jack Newell, JD

Facts

Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in order to create more legal defenses to copyright infringement for internet-service providers (ISPs). LoopNet (defendant) was a website that hosted real estate listings posted by its users. Photos copyrighted by CoStar Group (CoStar) (plaintiff) were posted on the site. CoStar contacted LoopNet and demanded that the copyrighted photos be taken down. LoopNet complied each time this happened. LoopNet also had a brief screening process whereby an employee would look at a photo to make sure that it did not have a clear copyright notice on it before allowing it to appear on the website. CoStar eventually sued LoopNet in federal district court for copyright infringement. CoStar claimed prior caselaw that would protect LoopNet from liability had been supplanted by the DMCA. The district court disagreed and ruled in favor of LoopNet. CoStar appealed to the Fourth Circuit.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Niemeyer, J.)

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