Court upholds $19.7 million copyright award to Lowry's Reports Inc.A federal judge recently upheld a jury verdict of $19.7 million in a copyright infringement Noun 1. copyright infringement - a violation of the rights secured by a copyright infringement of copyright plagiarisation, plagiarization, piracy, plagiarism - the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own action brought by Lowry's Reports Inc., a Florida-based newsletter publisher. The award represents a significant victory for the newsletter industry and, if upheld on subsequent appeals, it may prompt corporate subscribers to re-evaluate policies for the proper use of electronic publications. Last October a federal jury found that Legg Mason Founded in 1899, Legg Mason, Inc. (NYSE: LM) is a leading Global Asset Management Firm that serves the institutional, mutual fund and wealth management markets. The firm is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, and is located on Lombard and Charles Streets in the Legg Mason Inc., a financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. firm, had willfully willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) violated the copyrights of Lowry (NL/NL 10/16/03). Legg Mason paid for a $700 individual subscription to Lowry's New York Stock Exchange New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) World's largest marketplace for securities. The exchange began as an informal meeting of 24 men in 1792 on what is now Wall Street in New York City. Market Trend Analysis and then redistributed it without permission within the company by fax, e-mail, photocopying, and the company intranet. The jury awarded Lowry's $825,000 in contract damages and $18.9 million in statutory damages under the Copyright Act--one of the largest infringement verdicts in U.S. history. Legg Mason then sought a new trial, arguing that the damages were "grossly excessive." In February 2004, a federal judge rejected the motion for a new trial motion for a new trial n. a request made by the loser for the case to be tried again on the basis that there were significant legal errors in the way the trial was conducted and/or the jury or the judge sitting without a jury obviously came to an incorrect result. . After deciding that "the evidence indicated that Legg Mason was a sophisticated entity that repeatedly violated Lowry's copyrights, even when asked to stop," the court upheld the entire jury verdict and issued an order prohibiting Legg Mason from violating Lowry's copyrights in the future. Appeals are in the works. Lowry's, 1201 U.S. Highway One, #250, North Palm Beach, FL 33408, 561-799-1889, fax 561-799-3036, www.lowrysreports.com |
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