A few weeks ago, I gave a talk on secondary liability to the Copyright Subcommittee of the Intellectual Property Litigation Section of the ABA. I examined the impact of the DMCA on traditional doctrines of secondary liability and discussed two significant cases pending at the Circuit level which present knotty questions at the intersection of the statute and common law.  These two cases – Viacom v. YouTube, 2d Circuit Case No. 10-3270, and UMG v. Veoh, 9th Circuit Case No. 09-5677 – offer the opportunity for meaningful development of the jurisprudence in this area. 

Andy Berger, on his excellent IP In Brief blog, has posted the outline of my talk here.  He has also posted his own take on “some of the noteworthy changes to secondary liability” resulting from the passage of the DMCA.   Having once squared off in the courtroom against Andy, I can personally attest to the depth and sophistication of his knowledge of copyright.  His posts are always worthwhile to read.

You can find my earlier posts on Viacom v. YouTube here and here.  Veoh is likely to be heard before YouTube.  I will post the opinions when they are available.