News & Publications

An allegation that a defendant is the registered subscriber of an Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with infringing activity is not enough to state a claim for direct or contributory copyright infringement, the United States Court of Appeals for The Ninth Circuit held August 27, 2018. Cobbler Nev., LLC, v. Gonzales, 9th Cir., No. 17-35041, 8/27/18.

The company that holds the copyrights to the 2015 Adam Sandler film “The Cobbler” must now cover the attorneys fees of Thomas Gonzales, the man who was accused of downloading the movie. Cobbler traced the downloading and uploading of the movie to the internet protocol address assigned to Gonzales, but the service was attached to the IP address for the adult foster care home that Gonzales ran.

The Ninth Circuit said Cobbler’s infringement claim failed because “multiple devices and individuals may be able to connect via an IP address,” therefore simply identifying the IP subscriber, without more, was insufficient.