The end of the line appears to have been reached in a dispute between a publisher of corporate training materials and a competitor founded by its former employees. Plaintiff SMS accused original defendant ASP Consulting of infringing SMS’s copyrights in training materials. In an entertaining 2008 opinion Judge Young originally found the material uncopyrightable (as well as “aggressively vapid”), but that decision was vacated by the First Circuit. Perhaps due to Judge Young’s reaction to the material, upon remand the case made its way to Judge Stearns and the plaintiff ultimately prevailed.
Following an undisputed motion for attorneys fees Judge Stearns awarded the full amount of the requested fees and costs based on “the willful and predatory nature of ASP’s copying, the awareness of ASP’s principals of the wrongfulness of their acts, and the transpicuous nature of the defenses offered at trial.”
Situation Mgmt Sys., Inc. v. Lamoco Consulting, LLC, 06-11557-RGS (D. Mass. June 6, 2011)
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