This fall I had cause to refer someone to the court case Lowry’s Reports Inc. v. Legg Mason, and that made me realize that I had never mentioned it here. This post is to rectify that and so I can find information on it more easily in the future.
An employee at Legg Mason routinely made unauthorized copies of a newsletter from Lowry Reports and disseminated those copies to people within the company, who had not subscribed to the newsletter. If I remember correctly, Legg Mason failed to cease and desist, which made matters worse. In 2003, a jury ordered Legg Mason to pay $19.7 million in damages.
If someone in your organization wants you to copy a newsletter, for example, and disseminated it widely...perhaps even to do so routinely...ask them what their risk tolerance is and mention this court case to them. It only takes one person, who has received or seen a copy of the newsletter, to alert the publisher. Is your organization okay with that risk?
Resources
- Justia. Lowry's Reports, Inc. v. Legg Mason, Inc., 271 F. Supp. 2d 737 (D. Md. 2003)
- Marketing Sherpa. (2003) EMail Newsletter Wins Big Copyright Lawsuit
- Baltimore Sun (2003) Jury orders Legg Mason to pay $19.7 million in copyright case
- LLRX. (2011) The Risky Business of Information Sharing: Why You Need to Care About Copyright
- Pillsbury Law. (2013) What You Should Know About Electronic Subscriptions and Copyright Law: A Best Practices Guide
- Copyright Clearance Center. (2023) The Risky Business of Information Sharing. This white paper is by CCC, which offers licensing options.
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