Another Copyright Infringement Class Action Suit Filed Claiming Unauthorized Commercial Database Distribution of Court Filings

Following the class action complaint filed by attorneys Edward L. White and Kenneth Elan in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, (12-cv-01340-JSR) last month, attorney David J. Heinlein filed a similiar complaint aledging copyright infringement for unauthorized reproduction and distribution of court filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut (12-00386) on March 14th. Unlike the earlier class action which is suing both West and Lexis, Heinlein is only suing West. Hum, perhaps Heinlein and the attorney representing the class do not have a Lexis account. Perhaps they found none of Heinlein's briefs in Lexis. Or ... a private settlement? Or ... a take-down notice replied with an "OK"? Hell if I know.

Hat tip to Legal Research Plus for calling attention to this latest US lawsuit and providing a copy of the Heinlein class action complaint.

Up in Canada... . On Feb. 21, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified the class in a similiar copyright lawsuit against Thomson Reuters under Canadian law. Last week, Julius Melnitzer wrote about the proceedings in the Financial Post. See Lawyers target Thomson Reuters in copyright class action. ("On the one hand, Thomson Reuters seems to thinks enough of the work product to view it as a revenue centre. ... On the other hand, Thomson Reuters doesn’t seem to think enough of the work to consider paying lawyers for it.") Melnizer reviews the arguments TR offered opposing class certification and interviews the lead plaintiff while also providing some information about how much TR has spent to acquire court pleadings. Recommended.

I'm wondering if TR Legal and/or Lexis has uploaded the plaintiffs' pleadings in any of the above class action lawsuits. Anyone have access to Westlaw Litigator for Canadian court files? The Ontario Superior Court case is Waldman v. Thomson Reuters Corp., 10-CV-403667CP.

Do note, I have no idea if court pleadings are only uploaded by WEXIS after the merits of the case is decided. Perhaps someone will be curious enough to see if TR Legal and/or Lexis uploaded the motions and briefs in Rudovsky. [JH]