Commentary: Legal Advice: Contributory Infringement by Web Site

Summary

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I was looking for an inexpensive piece of Tiffany silver jewelry recently -- someone said it makes a really good bass lure if you add a swivel and treble hooks. I went online and found many, many sellers of what had to be counterfeit Tiffany jewelry in addition to the real thing.

That fishing expedition started me thinking. These Internet sites, such as eBay, clearly enable sellers of fake goods to conduct business. They form a critical link between buyer and seller, and without them, it is very unlikely that the counterfeiter's goods could be sold. I know it's a tough job to find and stop the actual seller, and often the juice isn't worth the squeeze, but why, I wondered, doesn't a company like Tiffany drop a rock on the Web sites? Remove the venue and the seller has no place to sell its goodies.

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Extract

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Commentary: Legal Advice: Contributory Infringement by Web Site

Well, Tiffany is attempting to do so and a case is pending in federal court in New York against eBay, alleging contributory trademark and copyright infringement.

The key word, however, is "pending"; although closing arguments were heard in December, a decision has not be...

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