Is a developer liable for illicit use of an app?
<p>A software developer receives a Content Infringement complaint against his app, which facilitates video downloads from YouTube. The software developer believes he is not responsible for the act of someone who downloads videos without permission of the IP owner. </p>

<p>My Question is: How can the developer get rid of such IP complaints, by specifying any statements of disclaiming? This <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/1671/why-are-there-so-many-youtube-to-mp4-and-mp3-download-websites-online-when-it-is">answer</a> does not help me.</p>

<p>Liability for copyright infringement can arise directly or vicariously.</p>

<p>A person can be direct liable if he personally makes an unauthorized copy of someone else's protected work. A third party can also be held liable for that infringement if he has knowledge of the infringing activity and makes a material contribution to the infringing activity.</p>

<p>If an app is basically only good for downloading YouTube videos, the vast majority of which are protected, a court will likely infer that the app was made for the purpose of facilitating copyright violations. That was basically what happened with Grokster, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed that Grokster was liable for all the copyright infringement happening through its app: <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/04-480.ZO.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.</em>, 545 U.S. 913 (2005)</a>.</p>

<p>The best way for the developer to get rid of the IP complaints is probably to disable the app.</p>

intellectual-property online-piracy