Traditionally, "one who, with knowledge of the infringing activity, induces, causes or materially contributes to the infringing conduct of another, may be held liable as a 'contributory' infringer".
Mininova, which is based in the Netherlands, has been charged with "contributory copyright infringement," which means only that it contributed to copyright infringement, and not actually infringed on anything itself.
But although the MP3Tunes.com cloud model was ruled lawful, Pauley said the website contributed to online infringement when it failed to take down infringing material after being notified by the rights holders.
It is well settled that "one who, with knowledge of the infringing activity, induces, causes or materially contributes to the infringing activity of another, may be held liable as a 'contributory' infringer". Gershwin Publishing Corp.
Relying on these provisions, College Savings alleged that Florida Prepaid had willfully infringed its patent under §271, as well as contributed to and induced infringement.
For example, individuals or companies may be held liable if they engage in conduct that encourages or assist the direct infringement of others, or in other words they are found to contribute to this infringing activity.
Superficially, "materially contributes to the infringing activity" provision pertains to whether the company provided a service to allow such activity.
Last year, in an investigation into high fuel prices in the Midwest, the F.T.C. concluded that the efforts of refiners to avoid infringing on Unocal's patents contributed to constrained supplies of reformulated gasoline in the region.
When Perfect10 went after Visa, Visa's arguable remoteness from the infringing activity prevented the court from finding that it materially contributed to it.
To put it simply, if the company does not take simple steps to prevent further damage from the infringing activity, then the courts will likely find the company materially contributed to such activity by allowing it to continue.
