Lawyers who file mass copyright suits against defenseless persons who copied from copyrighted text for the most innocent of reasons, such as to disclose an illicit practice, or to criticize or endorse an idea, are called copyright trolls. It is purely a profit-making venture. They count on the considerable cost of a legal defense, and the statutory maximum of $150,000, to extort thousands of dollars in settlement from each of their victims. Their aggregate demands in some cases have exceeded a billion dollars.
The most effective means of dealing with copyright trolls is to treat them like vermin. For example, because these cases are filed in volume, there is little attention to detail, and misstatements are frequent. These misstatements may occur in statutory representations under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or in sworn affidavits. They are perjurious, and the troll and/or his client can accurately be characterized as a perjuror to the Federal District Court. Attorney.
This program will discuss tactics for dealing with copyright trolls, and available defenses to their attacks.