Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network, Inc.

Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network, Inc.
Court	United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Full case name	Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network, Inc.
Decided	2012-01-03
Docket nos.	1:10-cv-04135
Defendants	Kodak Imaging Network, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, and Photobucket.com, Inc.
Citation	840 F. Supp. 2d 724
Case history
Prior action	Preliminary injunction denied 2011-03-17
Subsequent action	Appeal filed Second Circuit US Court of Appeals 2012-01-30
Holding
Photobucket qualifies for safe-harbor protections under 17 U.S.C. § 512(c) and Kodak is not directly liable for the printing of images from Photobucket site
Court membership
Judge sitting	Robert W. Sweet
Keywords
DMCA safe harbor, takedown notice, 17 U.S.C. § 512(c), 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) notices, photofinishing

Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network, Inc., 840 F. Supp. 2d 724 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 3, 2012), was a United States district court case in which the visual artist Sheila Wolk brought suit against Kodak Imaging Network, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, and Photobucket.com, Inc. for copyright infringement.^[1][2] Users uploaded Wolk's work to Photobucket, a user-generated content provider, which had a revenue sharing agreement with Kodak that permitted users to use Kodak Gallery to commercially print (photofinish) images from Photobucket's site—including unauthorized copies of Wolk's artwork.

The court held that Kodak was not liable for direct copyright infringement because its photofinishing system relied on an automated process, and liability requires volitional conduct beyond "mere ownership of a machine used by others to make illegal copies."^[2]: 742 The court also held that Photobucket was protected under the safe-harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). This case is one of the few to analyze the forms of injunctive relief available to plaintiffs suing online service providers protected from copyright liability by DMCA safe-harbor provisions.