Both Rebelsport Inc. and Indycross Inc.were in the aftermarket motorcycle parts industry. They utilized the Internet, each having a business website dedicated to sales and marketing. Rebelsportengaged their employees creatively to take photographs depicting motorcycle aftermarket components and accessories, which were staged, assembled into kits, and positioned to enable customers to examine key details about the products to ensure compatibility. The photographs were posted on the Rebelsportbusiness website to facilitate sales of their aftermarket motorcycle product offering.

Indycross Inc.was a competitor in the motorcycle aftermarket industry offering products similar to Rebelsport Inc.In developing their website, Indycross Inc.copied or scraped photographs from Rebelsport'swebsite and used the photographs on their website to market and sell competing aftermarket parts. Scraping is a technique whereby image URLsfor an item, or images such as JPG or PNG files,are extracted from a website. Indycross Inc.relied on the concept of the Internet which is based on the principal of "The public domain" consisting of ideas, images, sounds, discoveries, facts, texts that is largely unprotected by intellectual property rights and free for all to useor build upon.

The plaintiff, Rebelsport Inc. filed a lawsuit arguing that the defendants, Indycross Inc. infringed copyright by copying its photographs and posting them on the defendants' websites.

Case Questions

1. After reading the case summary, explain the issues before the court as they relate to deciding on matters relating to Copyright Infringement.
2. Explain the arguments the plaintiff, Rebelsport Inc. would present to the court in their statement of claim.
3. Explain the arguments the defendant, Indycross Inc. would present in defense of using images obtained on the Internet.
4. Present a likely outcome of the case drawing upon the rationale presented in your responses to Questions: 1 to 3.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Issues Before the Court The central issue before the court is whether copying and using photographs taken by Rebelsport on their competitors website constitutes copyright infringement This case hinges ... View the full answer