Amazon Not Liable For Affiliates’ Infringement
October 1, 2016
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that Amazon.com (“Amazon”) cannot be held vicariously liable for copyright infringement committed by its affiliates. A claim brought by Sandy Rout alleged Amazon was vicariously liable for copyright infringement by its affiliates. A district court in Seattle dismissed her case, and while the Ninth Circuit held that Amazon and its affiliates are prohibited from infringing on another’s copyright or trademark, and that Amazon has a right to monitor to ensure compliance, the court went on to hold that since Amazon could not supervise and control the actual infringement by its affiliates, it could not be held vicariously liable for such acts.
In its opinion, the court relied on the standard in Perfect 10, Inc. v. Visa Int’l Serv., Ass’n, 494 F.3d 788, (9th Cir. 2007) for the Lanham Act vicarious liability analysis. Under this standard, in order to find vicarious liability the “defendant and the infringer must have an apparent or actual partnership, have authority to bind one another in transactions with third parties, or exercise joint ownership or control over the infringing product.” Here, the court found that specific control was lacking. In fact, the agreement between Amazon and its affiliates expressly disclaimed the existence of an actual partnership, and as a result the Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of the case.