Various efforts to deal with internet piracy have proven yet again an essential part of making the 'net safe for porn. You may have heard about a recent decision in a lawsuit filed by IO Group, a distributor of porn films, against Veoh. When I read the actual opinion, I had flashbacks to 2002, when I was writing the appellate briefs against AOL. Not only does the Veoh opinion cite Ellison v. AOL extensively, but the other main case that it relies on (CCBill — another porn case) is also founded on Ellison. That was certainly gratifying to this landlocked shark. The flashbacks, though, came from Magistrate Judge Lloyd's opinion... which is organized almost identically to that brief that John Carmichael, Brigit Connelly, and I created (an organization that the 9th Circuit did not, itself, adopt in its opinion).
It's reasonably obvious that Veoh had also read the brief... because it took several steps that we outlined as necessary in the brief, but were not covered in the 9th Circuit's opinion. And, thus, the "infringer" used our pro-copyright-holder opinion to turn back claims of infringement by a different copyright holder. Finally, for your viewing and listening pleasure, here's a celebration on YouTube that is complex enough to provide a truly wonderful question for a law school exam on copyright.