Ian C. Ballon

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, designed to deal with the new challenges of a digital world, continues to dominate Ballon's practice.

Last year, he successfully defended Cracked Entertainment Inc. on appeal - the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment based on his client's right to the DMCA's "safe harbor" protection for material stored at the direction of a user. Obodai v. Cracked Entertainment Inc., 522 Fed. App'x 41 (2nd Cir., filed May 29, 2013).

At issue was the alleged syndication of third-party content.

"I handle a fair number of secondary copyright and secondary trademark infringement suits against Internet and mobile service providers that raise issues involving user conduct and content and implicate the DMCA, the printers' defense under the Lanham Act or the Communications Decency Act," Ballon said.

While the law is firmly established, he added, "There are a number of parties trying to sue the intermediaries, notwithstanding the DMCA."

Ballon said that he also is seeing more cases brought against legitimate service providers under privacy laws or the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

These include class action suits where, Ballon said, plaintiff's counsel "appear to have time on their hands," and file "gotcha" cases. He said there has been no injury or, in many cases, no violation of the law.

Meanwhile, to keep up with rapidly changing business models and technology, Ballon said, "you have to be very flexible and creative to get the best results for your clients."

- Pat Broderick