Bogus Takedown Notice Lands $150k Settlement In Australian Court

Fluffeh writes "Richard Bell, an Australian Film Maker, on a fellowship in New York, produced and directed approximately 18 hours of raw footage for a film with the help of an assistant called Tanya Steele and paid her for these services. Ms Steele, through her American lawyers, sent letters to Mr Bell and his agent claiming that she owned the copyright in the footage and demanding that the trailer be removed from the Internet. She also caused the Vimeo website to remove the trailer. In response, Bell went to the (Australian) courts, which declared him the owner of the copyright in the film, and deemed Steele's threats "unjustifiable". Bell then asked for damages. These were granted in the latest judgment because Bell had lost the opportunity to sell some of his works, which typically cost tens of thousands of dollars, as a result of Steels' threats. The Australian judge awarded over $150,000 in damages plus another $23,000 costs against her."

Comments

Re:Shouldn't it be "Judgment"?

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Right, that judge will take 2 seconds to smell out Bell as someone whose abusing the system. Best to take what good will the judge has awarded hom and move on. I'm amazed by the balls that bitch hangs. I'd be incredibly pissed off if an ex-assistant tried to rip off my blood and sweat like that.