Als Scan, Inc. v. Digital Service Consultants, Inc.

293 F.3d 707 (4th Cir. 2002)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

ALS Scan, Inc., (P) a Maryland corporation with its place of business in Columbia, Maryland, commenced this action for copyright infringement against Digital Service Consultants, Inc. (D), and D's customers, Robert Wilkins and Alternative Products, Inc. P creates and markets adult photographs of female models for distribution over the Internet, claims that Alternative Products appropriated copies of hundreds of P's copyrighted photographs and placed them on its websites, www.abpefarc.net and www.abpeuarc.com, thereby gaining revenue from them through membership fees and advertising. P alleges that D, as the Internet Service Provider 'enabled' Alternative Products to publish P's copyrighted photographs on the Internet by providing hosting services to Alternative. D filed a motion to dismiss the complaint against it under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(2), asserting that the district court lacked personal jurisdiction over it. D is a Georgia corporation with its only place of business in Atlanta. D asserts it merely is a hosting company and is not affiliated in any way with Alternative except through an arms-length customer relationship. D states that it did not select the infringing photographs for publication; it did not have knowledge that they were posted on Alternative's website; and it received no income from Alternative's subscribers. Digital has no contacts with the State of Maryland. It conducts no business and has no offices in Maryland; that it has no contracts with any persons or entities in Maryland; that it derives no income from any clients or business in Maryland; that it does not advertise in Maryland (other than through its website); and that it owns no property in Maryland. D alleges that copies of its copyrighted photographs have appeared on Alternative's two websites, www.abpefarc.net and www.abpeuarc.com. P also alleges that one of its employees in Maryland purchased an 'on-line' membership to www.abpefarc.net, using a credit card, and, by obtaining that membership, the employee received a 'username' and a 'password' to access the website. That website, it asserts, displayed P's copyrighted photographs, allegedly in violation of the Copyright Act. The district court granted D's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The court found that it had neither specific nor general jurisdiction over D because 'D does not engage in any continuous and systematic activities within Maryland, and there is no evidence that P's claim arises out of any contacts which D may have with Maryland.' P appealed.