Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, Inc.

Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, Inc.
Court	United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Decided	Nov. 21, 1995
Docket nos.	95-cv-20091
Citation	907 F. Supp. 1361
Holding
Internet access provider for a Bulletin Board System (BBS) operator not directly or vicariously liable for copyright infringement committed by subscriber to the BBS, where access provider took no affirmative action to copy work and received no direct financial benefit from the infringement. Disputed questions of fact regarding access provider's knowledge of infringement precluded summary judgment on contributory copyright infringement liability.
Court membership
Judge sitting	Ronald M. Whyte
Keywords
United States copyright law

Religious Technology Center v. Netcom On-Line Communication Services, Inc., 907 F. Supp. 1361 (N.D. Cal. 1995),^[1] is a U.S. district court case about whether the operator of a computer bulletin board service ("BBS") and Internet access provider that allows that BBS to reach the Internet should be liable for copyright infringement committed by a subscriber of the BBS. The plaintiff Religious Technology Center ("RTC") argued that defendant Netcom was directly, contributorily, and vicariously liable for copyright infringement. Netcom moved for summary judgment (i.e., Netcom urged the court to make a judgment without a full trial), disputing RTC's claims and raising a First Amendment argument and a fair use defense. The district court of the Northern District of California concluded that RTC's claims of direct and vicarious infringement failed, but genuine issues of fact precluded summary judgment on contributory liability and fair use. (I.e., facts about contributory liability and fair use that required adjudication by trial precluded the court from making a decision without a trial.)