PHILADELPHIA -- A Pennsylvania-based web developer will have to refile a complaint in a copyright infringement case.
Live Face on Web filed a second amended complaint against Cremation Society of Illinois after what it claimed to have been an act of copyright infringement under the U.S. Copyright Act and Pennsylvania law.
Live Face is a developer and owner of copyrighted software and technology products. According to the complaint, the Cremation Society and other associates used its copyrighted software on multiple URLs and websites.
Cremation Society filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted on Oct. 10 by Judge Berle Schiller in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Live Face will, however, be allowed to submit an amendment to its second amended complaint by Oct. 24, Schiller ruled.
Live Face claimed the Cremation Society committed "direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement, inducing copyright infringement, and breach of contract." However, Cremation Society argued that Live Face provided lack of evidence in its claim.
Schiller, agreeing with the defendants, said, "although LFOW alleges that an unidentified agent licensed two LFOW software packages on behalf of Defendants 'on or about 2015,' it does not state the time at which the End User License Agreement (EULA) was initially violated or the period during which the actual violations of the copyright occurred. Nor does the complaint specify the identity of the agent acting on behalf of Defendants or the actions each Defendant took."
According to court documents, Live Face alleges that “[i]n or around 2015” Cremation Society acted “through an agent” to license two customized software packages “for marketing, advertising, and sales purposes."
However, the Cremation Society failed to "comply with the EULA by using the software packages on multiple URLs and website. Court paperwork says the Cremation Society of Illinois Inc., Illinois Cremation Direct Inc., Katie Sullivan and Gerald Sullivan have in the past or currently own, control, and/or operate the website.
By doing so, the company "caused their website visitors to download and execute on their computers and other devices” the copyrighted material and, therefore, caused these third-party website visitors to violate Live Face’s rights. As a result, Live Face contends, Cremation Society “received a direct and substantial financial benefit."
Live Face initially sued defendants for direct copyright infringement; vicarious copyright infringement; inducing copyright infringement; and breach of contract.