In a new complaint filed with a federal court in California, Cloudflare is accused of contributing, aiding and encouraging copyright violations.
The company reportedly refused to terminate websites that used their services. The complaint, however, was not filed by Hollywood, but by two wedding dress manufacturers.
Cloudflare is one of the leading CDN services. It also protects against DDoS attacks, and is used by millions of websites around the world. Among them there are thousands of pages that violate intellectual property rights, such as The Pirate Bay. The fact has occasionally created major problems for the company, as too many copyright owners have repeatedly complained about the role of the company.
Cloudflare 2016 was accused of copyright infringement by ALS Scan. The case ended in a confidential compromise this summer, but it seems that the problems were not over for the company.
The new complaint, however, does not come from the entertainment industry, but from two wedding dress manufacturers and wholesalers. It is not a typical "piracy" trial, but a case of copyright infringement that could have far-reaching consequences.
In a lawsuit filed with a federal court in California, Mon Cheri Bridals and Maggie Sottero Designs argue that Cloudflare did not stop selling vendor websites that have copied their wedding dresses after many requests. This fact makes Cloudflare responsible for copyright violations, the pages that used its services.
"Plaintiffs have filed hundreds of removal requests with CloudFlare under the Copyright Act (DMCA), but the company has refused to respond to these notices by offering its services to infringers," the complaint said.
Therefore, CloudFlare is responsible for the violations committed by its customers.
The websites that sell fakes products it is not a new problem. In recent years, the American Bridal & Prom Industry Association has filed lawsuits against hundreds of websites, resulting in the termination of over 1.500 domains.
What is new, however, is that wedding dress manufacturers are now trying to hold a third party in charge. Mon Cheri Bridals and Maggie Sottero state that Cloudflare "protects pirate sites from legal action by copyright holders" and that they are "unable or unwilling to remove any infringing content" Copyright".
Finally, Mon Cheri Bridals and Maggie Sottero are seeking compensation for the losses they have suffered, as well as the exclusion of all offending activities.
It should be noted that the case may have nothing to do with the complaints on pirated websites, however a conviction could be used as "doomed" by the entertainment industry, which is closely monitoring its progress.
See the complaint at PDF who uploaded TorrentFreak.
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