Storm Impact, Inc. v. Software of the Month Club, 13 F.Supp.2d (1997) p.723

SUBJECT

fair use

FACTS

SOTMC packaged a bunch of shareware programs and sold the disk to its subscribers. Storm sued for copyright infringement as part of Storm's use agreement was that the program would not be sold for commercial purposes.

ISSUE

Whether the repackaging of the software was a fair use.

HOLDING

The court concluded that it could not rule in favor of Storm on summary judgment because of disputed facts concerning its claim that SOMC was creating ill will amoung Storm's potential customers.

RATIONAL

As to the first factor, the court rejected SOMC's claim that its use constituted a transformative use. The court also found the next two factors to weigh against SOMC. The court could not decide the fourth factor because of a dispute in material facts. The summary judgment motion was not granted and the case sent back.

Created on: Thursday, October 28, 1999 at 19:34:13 (PDT)