Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Indianapolis, Indiana – Attorneys for Plaintiff, Pearson Education, Inc. of New York, New York filed suit in the Southern District of Indiana alleging that Defendant, Christopher Deiter d/b/a www.easynotecards.com of Indianapolis, Indiana infringed its rights of Copyright in the United States Copyright Office of Pearson Education, Inc.’s Copyright Registration No. TX0008183299. Plaintiff is seeking relief under Title 17, Title 28, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, statutory damages and attorneys’ fees.
Plaintiff Pearson produces and distributes educational materials to schools around the world. They publish textbooks, assessments, test banks, and a wide variety of other learning tools for teachers and students.
Defendant owns the company at www.easynotecards.com. The website offers users the ability, at no cost, to create online flash cards that correspond to specific chapters and sections in educational materials. Users who have access to various educational materials will post flash cards replicating the materials on the website.
Plaintiff alleges that while Defendant purports to have a process on the website where one can notify Defendant that infringing material is posted online, Defendant has refused to take any action in taking down copyright Pearson material despite repeated notices. Essentially, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant violates its copyright rights by allowing free, unencumbered access to their copyrighted educational materials.
According to the complaint, Plaintiff has sent Defendant numerous notices to remove the infringing material from its website, but Defendant has refused to do so. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant refuses because the access to Pearson materials drives traffic to his website and to advertisers on the site.
The case was assigned to Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker and Magistrate Judge Tim A. Baker in the Southern District and assigned Case 1:17-cv-04596-SEB-TAB.