Vicarious Infringement Law and Legal Definition
Vicarious infringement refers to a person’s liability for an infringing act of someone else. Although the person has not directly committed an act of infringement, s/he may be convicted for vicarious infringement. The doctrine of vicarious infringement arises out of the doctrine of respondeat superior, which holds an employer liable for the wrongful acts of its employees committed within the scope of the employment. A defendant, therefore, may only be held liable on a claim of vicarious infringement upon a showing that s/he has the right and ability to supervise the infringing activity and s/he has a direct financial interest in such activities. Thus a vicarious infringer may incur liability, even though s/he has no actual knowledge that copyright monopoly is being impaired.[MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., 259 F. Supp. 2d 1029 (C.D. Cal. 2003)].
Legal Definition list
Related Legal Terms
- Civil Causes of Action - Trademark or Copyright Infringement
- Contributory Infringement
- Copyright Infringement
- Criminal Infringement
- Direct Infringement
- Inducing Infringement
- Infringement Under the Doctrine of Equivalents
- Innocent Infringement
- Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act
- Patent Infringement
