Wall Data, Inc. v. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
447 F.3d 769 (2006)

- Written by Sarah Holley, JD
Facts
Wall Data Incorporated (plaintiff) created and sold a line of computer-software products that included RUMBA Office and RUMBA Mainframe. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (defendant) purchased 3,663 total licenses of both RUMBA software products for use in its new detention center. Through a method known as hard-disk imaging, which the Sheriff’s Department used in order to speed the process of installation, RUMBA software was installed on 6,007 computers in the detention center; however, the Sheriff’s Department configured the computers such that the number of users able to access RUMBA software at any given time was limited to the number of licenses it had. Wall Data brought suit against the Sheriff’s Department for copyright infringement, alleging that the Sheriff’s Department had over-installed RUMBA software onto computers in its detention center in violation of the licensing agreement. The district court rejected the Sheriff’s Department’s fair-use defense and awarded Wall Data damages for infringement. The Sheriff’s Department appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Pregerson, J.)
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