Bogus Takedown Notice Lands $150k Settlement In Australian Court 115
Fluffeh writes "Richard Bell, an Australian Film Maker, on a fellowship in New York, produced and directed approximately 18 hours of raw footage for a film with the help of an assistant called Tanya Steele and paid her for these services. Ms Steele, through her American lawyers, sent letters to Mr Bell and his agent claiming that she owned the copyright in the footage and demanding that the trailer be removed from the Internet. She also caused the Vimeo website to remove the trailer. In response, Bell went to the (Australian) courts, which declared him the owner of the copyright in the film, and deemed Steele's threats "unjustifiable". Bell then asked for damages. These were granted in the latest judgment because Bell had lost the opportunity to sell some of his works, which typically cost tens of thousands of dollars, as a result of Steels' threats. The Australian judge awarded over $150,000 in damages plus another $23,000 costs against her."
Just goes to show (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't file bogus lawsuits unless you're a big corporation suing somebody too poor to sue back.
Re:Shouldn't it be "Judgment"? (Score:4, Insightful)
If I were Mr. Bell, at $150,000/pop, I would let her block my YouTube account as many times as she wanted.
Deja vu all over again? (Score:2, Insightful)
Umm, but.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Try this against sound exchange. lol
Fine, copyright law works between two nobodies. Ain't never seen it "work" whenever anyone big got involved.
Re:refreshing! (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, they rule against some random person with no money or political influence, but not the mega-corporations that are doing the REAL damage. So brave of them...
Re:refreshing! (Score:5, Insightful)
It's worth noting that if there were no copyright law then Tanya Steele wouldn't have been able to cause damage in the first place.
If a person has a gun and goes around shooting people for fun and, one day, is shot by one of their targets, then it's natural to feel a low-level sense of justice but I wouldn't go around saying "Now that is how guns are supposed to work".
Re:refreshing! (Score:5, Insightful)
here are the paintings he claims are up to $60,000 a piece (what a joke) http://www.kooriweb.org/bell/art.html [kooriweb.org] http://www.milanigallery.com.au/artwork/her-thous-shalt-not [milanigallery.com.au] I've had way better pieces custom made (oil on canvas portraits) for a fraction of the price
Since when has art been valued with any sort of logic? I can take you to any gallery in any country and show plenty of art that "isn't worth it".
Re:refreshing! (Score:5, Insightful)