A magazine publisher is suing a subscriber on copyright infringement after the subscriber allegedly sent electronic copies of the magazine to others in the company.
Energy Intelligence Group Inc. and Energy Intelligence (UK) Ltd. filed a lawsuit May 21 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division against Raymond James & Associates Inc., citing copyright infringement.
The lawsuit states a supervisor at Raymond James & Associates had been purchasing an online copy of Natural Gas Weekly since March 16, 2000, and electronic delivery of Oil Daily since Sept. 6, 2001.
An account manager called the magazine company on March 6, 2014, to negotiate a price reduction and stated the supervisor forwards the email transmission of the magazines to 45 people in the Houston office and has done so for years, according to the complaint.
The magazine company contends this is copyright infringement because electronic publications are not to be transmitted for any reason.
The magazine company is asking the court to stop the transmission, give them a judgment for actual damages, and pay an award for statutory damages, require indemnity from claims by third parties, require Raymond James to account of all gains, profits and advantages from the transmissions and court costs.
It is being represented by Robert L. Powley of Powley & Gibson PC in New York, N.Y.
United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division Case No. 4:14-cv-01417
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it represents only one side of the story.