Michael J. Rossi, Dba Internet movies.com v. Motion Picture Association of America Inc.
Opinion
Opinion
Rawlinson, J.
We agree that no material issue of fact was raised regarding the Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) “good faith belief’ that Rossi was infringing upon copyrighted materials. Because the MPAA’s actions, compliant with the notice and takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA), 17 U.S.C. § 512 , constitute “justification,” were privileged and were not unreasonable, we affirm the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the MPAA.
I.
BACKGROUND
Michael J. Rossi has owned and operated the “internetmovies.com” website since 1997. Rossi described his website as an “online magazine” that provided visitors with a directory of websites containing information about movies. Beginning January, 2001, Rossi offered memberships to visitors to his website.
The MPAA is a trade association that works to prevent unauthorized copying, transmittal, or other distribution of the movie studios’ motion pictures. An MPAA member became aware of Rossi’s website and notified the MPAA. A subsequent examination of Rossi’s website revealed the following contents: “Join to download full length movies online now! new movies every month”; “Full Length Downloadable…