Representative Cases

The landmark cases that Andrew has led—and won—include:

• Perfect 10 v. Google and Amazon.com (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Obtained key Ninth Circuit victory on questions of fair use and direct infringement standards applicable to linking for Google on complex copyright claims arising from operation of the search engine
• Perfect 10 v. Visa International Service Association (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California): For Mastercard, defeated all claims in complex copyright, trademark and publicity law secondary liability case, arguing for all defendants at hearings in district court and court of appeals
• Recording Industry Association of America v. Diamond Multimedia Systems (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Court for the Central District of California): Successfully defended launch of the first popular MP3 music player against claims under Audio Home Recording Act, with victories in the trial court and court of appeals
• Perfect 10 v. Giganews (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; U.S. District Court for the Central District of California): Defeated all claims in a copyright, trademark and publicity rights case pertaining to clients’ Usenet service, with landmark U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rulings on direct infringement, contributory infringement and vicarious liability standards; obtained a $5.6 million attorney’s fees award for defendants
• USA v. Richard O’Dwyer (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York): Defended a U.K. university student against criminal prosecution and extradition efforts relative to the operation of a UK-based “linking” website; the U.S. government dropped the prosecution and extradition
• Huntsman v. Soderbergh (U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado): Successfully defended ClearPlay, maker of DVD replay filtering software, against cutting-edge copyright (derivative work) claims by major motion picture studios and Lanham Act (mutilation) claims by major Hollywood directors and their guild (victory achieved through passage of Family Movie Act of 1995)
• Average Joe’s Entertainment v. SoundCloud (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee): Successfully defended a Berlin, Germany-based music service against copyright claims after the court granted summary judgment, rejecting all of the plaintiff’s claims
• Alliance of Artists and Recording Companies v. General Motors (U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia): For GM, obtained summary judgment on the principal issue, which claimed “infotainment” systems in some GM vehicles fell under the Audio Home Recording Act (AHRA). This was the second decision ever on claims under the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act, another landmark decision, which Andrew won in 1999
• American Society for Testing of Materials v. Public.Resource.Org and American Educational Research Association v. Public.Resource.Org (U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit) (pro bono, ongoing): For Public.Resource.Org (with Corynne McSherry of Electronic Frontier Foundation as co-counsel) obtained reversal of permanent injunction and remand of cases involving the public posting of industry and building standards and codes after they have been enacted as law through “incorporation by reference” (the case now resumes proceedings in district court on question of fair use and ownership). These consolidated cases could have a profound societal effect, as the core question is whether private parties may assert copyright rights over the law itself, merely because the text of the law originated from outside the government
• Obtained the first recapture of a domain name after seizure by Homeland Security (dajaz1.com, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California)

Andrew also drafted important and influential amicus briefs in numerous other internet, technology and IP related cases. They include:

• In re Apple iPhone (U.S. District Court for the Central District of California): Represented trade associations and companies supporting Apple against the U.S. government’s effort to crack into San Bernardino gunman Syed Farook’s iPhone
• Arizona v. NTIA (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas): Represented many major internet stakeholders supporting the U.S. government against a last-minute emergency motion by four states to halt its transfer of IANA stewardship functions to ICANN, filing the only amicus brief in the case 20 hours after being retained
• A&M Records v. Napster (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Drafted influential neutral amicus brief on behalf of Digital Media Association in major P2P copyright litigation