OdioWorks v Apple
EFF filed suit against Apple Inc. to defend the First Amendment rights of an operator of a noncommercial, public Internet "wiki" site known as Bluwiki.
EFF and the San Francisco law firm of Keker & Van Nest represent OdioWorks LLC, which runs the BluWiki website. Like many “wiki” platforms, such as Wikipedia, it is open to the public for collaborative authoring and editing on any topic. The site is entirely noncommercial, operated by OdioWorks as a public service.
Late last year, after BluWiki users began a discussion about making some Apple iPods and iPhones interoperate with software other than Apple’s own iTunes, Apple lawyers demanded removal of the content. In a letter to OdioWorks, the attorneys alleged that the discussions constituted copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA's) prohibition on circumventing copy protection measures. Fearing legal action by Apple, OdioWorks took down the discussions from the Bluwiki site.
OdioWorks filed the lawsuit in order to vindicate its right to restore those discussions. Filed in federal court in San Francisco, the suit seeks a declaratory judgment that the discussions do not violate any of the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions, and do not infringe any copyrights owned by Apple.
Documents
- July 22, 2009 Apple letter[PDF, 39.24 KB]
- April 27, 2009 Complaint[PDF, 35.31 KB]
Press Releases
- July 22, 2009 Apple Withdraws Threats Against Wiki Site
- April 27, 2009 Wiki Operator Sues Apple Over Bogus Legal Threats
Deeplinks Posts
- July 22, 2009 Apple Backs Down On Bluwiki Threats
- November 25, 2008 Apple Confuses Speech with a DMCA Violation
In The News
- THE RECORDER | July 23, 2009 Apple Drops Pursuit of Site With iPhone Hacking Tips
- ARS TECHNICA | July 22, 2009 Apple drops legal threats against wiki operator—for now
- WALL STREET JOURNAL BLOGS | July 22, 2009 Apple Withdraws Threat Against BluWiki
- MACWORLD | July 22, 2009 Apple drops DRM case against Bluwiki
- AFP | May 06, 2009 Apple sued for oppressing free speech
- MACNEWSWORLD | April 28, 2009 OdioWorks Drags Apple to Court in Free Speech Battle
- HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE | April 28, 2009 Studios Assert RealDVD Violates Digital Millennium Copyright Act
- THE INDUSTRY STANDARD | April 28, 2009 iTunes DRM spat pits EFF against Apple
- ZDNET | April 28, 2009 Apple is being accused of stifling free speech; again
- THE INQUIRER | April 28, 2009 Apple sued for threatening fan wiki
- ARS TECHNICA | April 27, 2009 Apple sued over legal threats to wiki operator
- PC WORLD | April 27, 2009 Apple Is Sued After Pressuring Open-source ITunes Project


