Indiana Intellectual Property Law News
Energy Intelligence Group, Inc. and its UK-based counterpart have filed a lawsuit against Indianapolis, Indiana company, Calumet, Inc., claiming that Calumet repeatedly copied and distributed issues of the plaintiffs’ copyrighted publications—Oil Daily and Energy Intelligence News—without authorization. The lawsuit, brought in the U.S. District Court for Southern Indiana, accuses Calumet of willful copyright infringement, and seeks damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees.
The plaintiffs, long-time publishers in the energy sector, allege that Calumet subscribed to only one copy of their publications but shared the content with multiple employees in violation of clear copyright warnings. According to the complaint, Calumet had been a subscriber since 2004 and renewed its subscription annually for a single-copy license, which explicitly barred distribution or forwarding. Despite this, internal data from Energy Intelligence’s servers showed that, over just a few months, dozens of issues were downloaded hundreds of times on over 100 devices. This pattern, the plaintiffs argue, reveals a systematic practice of unauthorized copying and internal distribution.
The complaint outlines extensive steps taken by the publisher to warn users of copyright restrictions, including notices in emails, on their website, and within the publications themselves. It claims that Calumet ignored these warnings and refused offers to increase the number of licensed users.
Notably, Energy Intelligence Group has filed more than 83 similar copyright cases over the past seventeen years. This suggests a broader strategy of aggressive enforcement to protect its subscription-based revenue model, which relies heavily on the integrity of its paywall.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to order Calumet to stop distributing their content, destroy unauthorized copies, pay damages, and cover legal fees. A jury trial has been requested.
The case has been assigned to Judge Richard L. Young and Magistrate Judge Mario Garcia in the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana Case No. 1:25-cv-01116.