Forms Over Utilitarian Function: Horse Ranch Loses Copyright Case (But Not the Farm) Over Licensed Legal Forms

By Robert E. Freeman, with Tara K. Wahl, Meredith A. Lipson and Caroline E. Rimmer An Oregon district court recently saddled a Florida horse ranch with liability for copyright infringement after it repeatedly posted copyright-protected equine transaction legal forms it licensed from the Plaintiff, despite the license terms prohibiting such online posting. Although the copyright holder galloped to legal victory, the court reined in its damages claim, awarding just $400 in statutory damages, pl