More than two years ago, Amazon sued a network of websites that sold pirated DVDs of Prime Video exclusives such as The Rings of Power and The Boys. The defendants, believed to be based in China, never showed up in court. This week, a California federal judge awarded Amazon $6 million in damages and granted a broad domain transfer request, targeting registrars and registries.
Can it really be an infringement if there’s no physical source though? That’s the question.
Say someone does an online comic strip, I download the images, re-format them for print, and sell a print version.
There is no physical version to bootleg, the only reason a physical copy exists at all is because I put the time and effort into making one.
Same with the “Calvin peeing on things” car stickers. King Features and Bill Watterson could absolutely produce those themselves, but don’t. Watterson refuses to license the character for anything.
At the same time, they also haven’t gone after the people who are producing them.