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Progress in Internet copyright case with Arriba Soft Corp.

There is progress in the case of ASMP member Les Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp. (now known as Ditto.com). After months of silence since ASMP filed briefs in the Ninth Circuit the better part of a year ago, the Court has now listed the case for oral argument on September 10, 2001. This case will help define the limits of copyright in the Internet world.

Ditto.com, formerly ArribaVista, provides a Web site that uses a robot to search the Internet for photographs and then displays those photos, literally millions of them, in searchable form on its Web site. It does this without any permission from the photographers or from the owners of the Web sites from where the photos came.

Kelly sued for copyright infringement. A U.S. District Court Judge in Southern California ruled against Kelly, saying that this was a case of fair use. ASMP was outraged at that decision and arranged for legal representation for Kelly to take and appeal.ASMP also filed an amicus curiae brief in his support. The decision in this case will affect all ASMP members and all the owners of Web sites such as Webshots, Alta Vista, and similar that give viewers access to photos without permission from the copyright owners. It should answer the question of whether every photo that photographers put up on the Internet automatically becomes fair game.