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`UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA
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`Plaintiff,
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`Civil No. 16-1960 (DWF/LIB)
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`MEMORANDUM
`OPINION AND ORDER
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`Neil Leonard Haddley,
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`v.
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`Next Chapter Technology, Inc., a corporation;
`Vaughn Mulcrone, an individual;
`dataBridge, LLC, a limited liability company;
`County of Becker, Minnesota;
`County of Clay, Minnesota;
`County of Dodge, Minnesota;
`County of Isanti, Minnesota;
`County of Otter Tail, Minnesota;
`County of Mower, Minnesota;
`County of Steele, Minnesota; and
`County of Waseca, Minnesota;1
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`Alexander Farrell, Esq., Hellmuth & Johnson PLLC, counsel for Plaintiff Neil Leonard
`Haddley.
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`Bruce H. Little, Esq., Sarah Pruett, Esq., Autumn Gear, Esq., and Heidi J.K. Fessler,
`Esq., Lindquist & Vennum LLP, counsel for Defendants.
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`Defendants.
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`In an Order dated April 25, 2017, the Court dismissed Count II insofar as it was
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`asserted against County Defendants. (Doc. No. 63 at 14-15.) The Court notes that
`Counts I and III are not asserted against the following counties: Kittson,
`Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau, Kandiyohi, Rice, Scott, and
`Stearns. Therefore, those counties are properly removed from the caption of this case.
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 2 of 14
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`INTRODUCTION
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`This matter is before the Court on Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary
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`Judgment (Doc. No. 103). For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies the motion.
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`BACKGROUND
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`Plaintiff Neil Haddley is the creator and copyright holder of Scanning Enabler, a
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`software program that allows users to scan paper documents into electronic form. (Doc.
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`No. 69 (Consolidated Amended Complaint (“CAC”)) ¶¶ 33, 35.) Scanning Enabler is
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`activated by a license key. (Id. ¶ 42.) A license key system assigns a unique key number
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`to each licensee and is intended to limit and control access to licensed software. (Id.
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`¶ 40.) In order to download Scanning Enabler, one must use a valid license key. (Id.
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`¶ 42.) Scanning Enabler resides on and is used at the server; workstations can connect to
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`the server and access the software via ActiveX controllers. (CAC ¶ 70; Doc. No. 118
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`(“Farrell Decl.”) ¶ 3, Ex. B (“Haddley Dep.”) at 40.)2
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`Defendant Next Chapter Technology, Inc. (“NCT”) developed and licenses its
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`own product, CaseWorks, to various Minnesota counties. (CAC ¶ 6; Doc. No. 106
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`(“Little Decl.”) ¶¶ 11-12, 14-15, Exs. 9-10, 12-13; Doc. No. 108 (“Mulcrone Decl.”) ¶ 2,
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`Ex. 1 (“Mulcrone First Action Decl.”) ¶¶ 7-9). CaseWorks is an electronic document
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`management system (“EDMS”) that NCT installs on servers owned by its customer
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`counties, who in turn use the software for essential government functions. (Mulcrone
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`2
`Thus, downloading the ActiveX control to a workstation is required before using
`Scanning Enabler. (Haddley Dep. at 148.)
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`2
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 3 of 14
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`First Action Decl. ¶ 9.) CaseWorks includes a scanning feature, and in 2012 and 2013,
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`the scanning software component used in CaseWorks was Scanning Enabler.
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`In 2009, NCT entered into a re-seller arrangement for Scanning Enabler with Dark
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`Blue Duck Solutions, LLC (“DBD”). (CAC ¶¶ 39, 46; Mulcrone First Action Decl.
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`¶ 14.) DBD is a company formed by Haddley for the purpose of selling licenses to
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`Haddley’s software. (Id. ¶ 39.) Per this agreement, from 2009 until 2012, Vaughn
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`Mulcrone, the president and CEO of NCT, was authorized to re-sell Haddley’s software
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`products, including Scanning Enabler, to third parties. (Id. ¶ 46.) In 2011 and 2012,
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`Haddley was working for NCT, first as a consultant and later as the Chief Technical
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`Officer (“CTO”) of NCT. (Mulcrone First Action Decl. ¶ 2.)
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`In 2012, NCT requested a license from DBD for the Scanning Enabler software to
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`be installed at and used by Clay County.3 (CAC ¶¶ 65, 66, 80, 81; Mulcrone Decl. ¶¶ 4,
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`5, Exs. 3, 4; Mulcrone First Action Decl. ¶¶ 3, 16.) Clay County shared a server
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`environment with Becker, Otter Tail, and later Isanti Counties. (Mulcrone First Action
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`Decl. ¶ 3; CAC ¶¶ 72, 83, 90.) In 2013, NCT requested a license for the Scanning
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`Enabler software to be installed at and used by Steele County. (CAC ¶¶ 91, 92;
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`Mulcrone Decl. ¶¶ 6, 7, Exs. 5, 6.) Steele County shared a server environment with
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`Waseca, Mower, and Dodge Counties. (Mulcrone First Action Decl. ¶ 4.) Defendants
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`assert that these licenses were unrestricted single server licenses designated for
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`3
`The parties dispute whether NCT purchased the license for itself or acquired the
`license for its county customers as a re-seller of Haddley’s software.
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 4 of 14
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`installation on production servers hosted at both Clay and Steele Counties. (Mulcrone
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`Decl. ¶¶ 4-9, Exs. 3-8 (License Keys for Clay and Steele County; invoices for the License
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`Keys noting the purchase of “Scanning Enabler Server” and “Unrestricted License for
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`one front-end server”).) Defendants assert that, when working as a consultant for or an
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`employee of NCT, Haddley authorized and personally participated in the sharing and use
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`of Scanning Enabler by County Defendants in the above server environments. (Mulcrone
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`First Action Decl. ¶¶ 2-4.)
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`Haddley disputes that he knew of and acquiesced to Defendants’ unrestricted use
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`of Scanning Enabler in the shared server communities. For example, Haddley claims that
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`he protested the Isanti County Defendant’s use of his software without a license.
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`Specifically, Haddley testified that when he was on-site in Fergus Falls in December
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`2012 (when the Otter Tail workstations were connected to the Clay server), he confronted
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`John Dinsmore of Otter Tail County and expressed that he was unhappy with the
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`configuration and indicated that they needed to purchase additional licenses. (Haddley
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`Dep. at 165-66, 169.) In addition, Haddley asserts that after he refused to agree to a
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`proposal put forward by NCT that affected Haddley’s licensing of Scanning Enabler,
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`Haddley’s employment was terminated by NCT. (CAC ¶¶ 97-102.) Haddley alleges that
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`NCT then retained Defendant dataBridge, LLC to help create a replacement software
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`product called NCT Scan. (Id. ¶¶ 129-30.) Also, in October 2014, Haddley sent Notice
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`of Claim letters to the County Defendants indicating his belief that they were using
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`copyrighted works without his permission. (Id. ¶¶ 137-38, Ex. C.)
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`4
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 5 of 14
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`In this action, Plaintiff brings three claims: (1) copyright infringement against
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`NCT, Mulcrone, and County Defendants for exceeding the licenses Hadley sold by
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`permitting the eight County Defendants, instead of just Steele and Clay Counties, to use
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`the Scanning Enabler at the Clay and Steele County servers; (2) copyright infringement
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`against NCT, Mulcrone, and dataBridge LLC for creating an infringing derivative work
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`based on the Scanning Enabler4; and (3) a claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright
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`Act (“DMCA”), 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)(A) and § 1202(b)(1) against NCT, Mulcrone,
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`and the County Defendants. Defendants now move for partial summary judgment
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`seeking judgment in their favor on Counts I and III.
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`DISCUSSION
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`I.
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`Legal Standard
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`Summary judgment is appropriate if the “movant shows that there is no genuine
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`dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.”
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`Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Courts must view the evidence, and the inferences that may be
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`reasonably drawn from the evidence, in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.
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`Weitz Co., LLC v. Lloyd’s of London, 574 F.3d 885, 892 (8th Cir. 2009). However,
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`“[s]ummary judgment procedure is properly regarded not as a disfavored procedural
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`shortcut, but rather as an integral part of the Federal Rules as a whole, which are designed
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`4
`Defendants do not move for summary judgment on Count II, which is brought
`against Defendants NCT, Mulcrone, and dataBridge, for copyright infringement based on
`the alleged creation of a derivative of Scanning Enabler. (CAC ¶¶ 151-64.)
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`5
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 6 of 14
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`‘to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.’” Celotex
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`Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 327 (1986) (quoting Fed. R. Civ. P. 1).
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`The moving party bears the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of
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`material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Enter. Bank v. Magna
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`Bank, 92 F.3d 743, 747 (8th Cir. 1996). The nonmoving party must demonstrate the
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`existence of specific facts in the record that create a genuine issue for trial. Krenik v. Cty.
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`of Le Sueur, 47 F.3d 953, 957 (8th Cir. 1995). A party opposing a properly supported
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`motion for summary judgment “may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his
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`pleading, but must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.”
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`Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256 (1986).
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`II.
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`Count I – Copyright Infringement
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`In Count I, Haddley asserts that Defendants infringed his copyright in the
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`Scanning Enabler software by making copies available to unlicensed parties who then
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`downloaded the software. Specifically, Haddley argues that only Clay and Steele
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`Counties were licensed to load Scanning Enabler on their licensed servers and that the
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`connection of each server or workstation from the other six counties constitutes
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`infringement. Haddley submits that Clay and Steele counties contributed to that
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`infringement by allowing the other counties access, and that NCT and Mulcrone
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`contributed to the infringement of all County Defendants.
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`Defendants argue that they are entitled to summary judgment on Haddley’s
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`copyright infringement claim because the operative software licenses were unrestricted
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`and, therefore, did not limit the number and identities of servers and workstations that
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 7 of 14
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`could connect to the Clay and Steele County servers. In addition, Defendants argue that
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`Haddley knew that NCT installed the software on the County Defendant servers and that
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`Haddley personally helped in setting up the server-sharing arrangement amongst the
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`counties. Defendants submit that Haddley’s active participation in the installation plus
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`his silence ratified the server-sharing arrangement.
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`At the heart of Defendants’ motion is the assertion that, as a matter of law, they
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`were licensed to use the Scanning Enabler software. An express license is a basis for
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`finding non-infringement. See, e.g., Sony Corp of Am. v. Universal City Studios, Inc.,
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`464 U.S. 417, 433 (1984) (“[A]nyone who is authorized by the copyright owner to use
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`the copyrighted work . . . is not an infringer of the copyright with respect to such use.”);
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`Computer Assocs. Int’l, Inc. v. State Street Bank & Trust, 789 F. Supp. 470, 472 (D.
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`Mass. 1992) (“A use of an authorized copy of copyrighted subject matter ordinarily is not
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`infringing.”). The parties dispute the following issues that are relevant to Haddley’s
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`copyright infringement claim: whether NCT acquired a license to Scanning Enabler (as
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`opposed to Clay and Steele Counties), which particular agreement(s) governed the
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`parties’ use of the software, and whether any license authorized the installation of
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`Scanning Enabler on servers (and connecting workstations) beyond the servers and
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`workstations of Clay and Steele Counties.
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`The Court first turns to the issue of who was the licensee of the Scanning Enabler
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`software and the related issue of which agreement governs. In support of their motion for
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`summary judgment, Defendants claim that the licenses were sold to NCT, and not to Clay
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`and Steele Counties. In support, Defendants point to invoices addressed to “The
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 8 of 14
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`Mulcrone Group”—NCT’s former name. (Mulcrone Decl. ¶¶ 8, 9, Exs. 7, 8.) While
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`these invoices suggest that NCT held the licenses for Scanning Enabler and that software
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`license agreements governed, Haddley points to conflicting evidence, namely that
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`Mulcrone believed that the operative license agreement could be one posted on the DBD
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`website. (Doc. No. 147 (“Farrell Decl. II”) ¶ 2, Ex. A (“Scanning Enabler 4.x Software
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`License Agreement”); id. ¶ 3, Ex. B at 12-13.) The Scanning Enabler 4.x Software
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`License Agreement notes that it would bind the software developer and the “user,” and
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`Haddley argues that the County Defendants, and not NCT, are the users of the software.
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`In addition, Haddley argues that NCT was actually operating under the re-seller
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`agreement and his Employment Agreement with NCT and that under those agreements
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`Haddley retained ownership of his software. (See Farrell Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. D.)
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`Second, Defendants argue that the licenses for Scanning Enabler were not limited
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`to any number of workstations or to workstations owned by Clay and Steele County.
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`Therefore, Defendants argue that they could permissibly share the Scanning Enabler
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`licenses between multiple counties and their workstations. In support, Defendants again
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`point to License Keys and invoices that state that the licenses were “unrestricted” for
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`“one front-end server.” (Mulcrone Decl.¶¶ 6, 7, 8, 9, Exs. 5, 6, 7, 8.) Haddley, however,
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`disputes that the licenses were “unrestricted” so as to allow the additional counties (and
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`their corresponding workstations) to download Scanning Enabler. Instead, Haddley
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`argues that the licenses prohibited the connection of additional servers at other counties
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`and that his expectation was that NCT would assign the licenses to additional counties.
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`(Haddley Dep. at 58.) For example, Haddley asserts that he did not grant unrestricted
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 9 of 14
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`licenses and that the licenses were for a single user. (Doc. No. 117 (“Haddley Decl.”)
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`¶ 12.) Haddley maintains that he always granted Scanning Enabler licenses on a
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`per-customer/per-server basis and points to evidence that this type of license
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`(per-customer/per-server) is customary in the industry. (Farrell Decl. II ¶ 4, Ex. C at
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`¶ 54.) Moreover, Haddley points to evidence that the Scanning Enabler license found on
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`the DBD website--the Scanning Enabler 4.x Software License Agreement--states that the
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`licensee may not “duplicate . . . license or sublicense” the Scanning Enabler Software.
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`(Farrel Decl. II ¶ 2, Ex. A at 2.)
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`After a careful review of the record, and viewing the evidence in the light most
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`favorable to Haddley, the Court concludes that numerous questions of fact exist as to all
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`of the above issues. It will be up to a fact-finder to determine the fact issues underlying
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`whether NCT acquired a license to Scanning Enabler, which particular agreement(s)
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`governed, and whether the relevant licenses were unrestricted such that they allowed
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`multiple counties to share the Scanning Enabler software on the Clay and Steele County
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`servers.
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`Defendants also argue that Haddley granted Defendants an implied license to
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`Scanning Enabler or that he should be estopped from denying the existence of an implied
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`license. Defendants point to evidence that Haddley worked with NCT to install
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`CaseWorks and to link the production servers to workstations in other counties, Haddley
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`knew that the County Defendants were sharing servers, and until October 2014 (one year
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`after the last CaseWorks installation), Haddley acquiesced. Moreover, Defendants point
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`out that in 2012 and 2013, Haddley communicated with NCT and NCT’s customers,
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 10 of 14
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`made no demands for separate licenses, and never objected to the installation of Scanning
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`Enabler or the ActiveX controls. Defendants also submit that Haddley issued new
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`licenses to NCT for the Steele County server when he was fully aware of the
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`server-sharing involving the Clay County server, and that Haddley personally connected
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`workstations from other counties to the Steele County server. Defendants assert that
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`Haddley’s conduct left Defendants with the impression that they could rightfully share
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`access to Scanning Enabler as part of CaseWorks.
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`Haddley disputes that he knew of and ignored Defendants’ alleged infringement.
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`Instead, Haddley submits that he understood that the additional counties would need to
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`acquire their own licenses for Scanning Enabler. In addition, Haddley testified that NCT
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`assured Haddley that each license would only be used by the individual licensed counties.
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`(Haddley Dep. at 131-33.) Moreover, Haddley claims that he relied on NCT, as a
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`re-seller, to collect money from counties using Scanning Enabler. (Farrell Decl. II ¶ 5,
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`Ex. D (“Haddley 2018 Dep.”) at 44-45.) Haddley also disputes that, in his role at NCT,
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`he was in a position to know which counties were using Scanning Enabler as part of
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`CaseWorks and that he did not implement any client engagements. (Id. at 84, 87-88.)
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`Haddley also submits that he repeatedly objected to the non-licensed use of the software
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`and that, ultimately, he was terminated because of his objection. Haddley points to
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`evidence that he specifically challenged the server and license sharing configuration
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`when he was on-site in Fergus Falls in December 2012, and that he sent letters to each of
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`the counties after his termination to challenge the unauthorized copying of the software.
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 11 of 14
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`A non-exclusive implied license can arise based on the copyright holder’s implied
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`consent. See Pinkham v. Sara Lee Corp., 983 F.2d 824, 831 (8th Cir. 1992); Parker v.
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`Yahoo!, Inc., Civ. No. 07-2757, 2008 WL 4410095, at *3 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 25, 2008)
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`(noting that a copyright owner may grant a non-exclusive license expressly or impliedly
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`through conduct). Such conduct might include silence or lack of objection, especially if
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`the copyright holder knows of and encouraged the allegedly infringing use. Parker, 2008
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`WL 4410095, at *3. Similarly, “[a] Plaintiff is estopped from asserting a copyright claim
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`if he has aided the defendant in infringing or otherwise induced it to infringe or has
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`committed covert acts such as holding out . . . by silence or inaction.” Rouse v. Walter &
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`Assocs., 513 F. Supp. 2d 1041, 1067-68 (S.D. Iowa 2007) (citation omitted).
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`Here, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to Haddley, the Court
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`concludes that there are fact issues that preclude summary judgment on the issue of
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`implied consent. In particular, a reasonable juror could conclude that Haddley did not
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`impliedly consent to the allegedly infringing use of the software. For that same reason,
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`fact issues also exist to preclude summary judgment on the issue of whether Haddley is
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`estopped from denying the existence of an implied license.
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`III. DMCA Claim
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`In Count III, Haddley asserts a claim of copyright management circumvention
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`against Defendants, alleging that in order to download Scanning Enabler, a licensee must
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`have a valid license key and that Defendants NCT and Mulcrone acted in concert with
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`County Defendants to bypass the license key system allowing the distribution of
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`unauthorized copies of Scanning Enabler. (CAC ¶¶ 165-175.) Haddley asserts that
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 12 of 14
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`Defendants violated the DMCA by allowing eight separate counties to connect to
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`workstations to two host production servers. (Id.)
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`Defendants argue that this claim should be dismissed because each time one of the
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`County Defendants connected to a workstation, it had the authority to do so via NCT’s
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`licenses. In addition, Defendants argue that the fact that Haddley himself assisted in
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`connecting the servers demonstrates that they had authority to use Scanning Enabler.
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`Finally, Defendants argue that under the anti-circumvention provision of the DMCA,
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`Haddley was required to have applied a technological measure to prevent unauthorized
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`access. Defendants submit that they did not take any unauthorized technological steps to
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`gain unauthorized access to Scanning Enabler, but rather that they used the ActiveX
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`control to connect the workstations to the licensed servers and that they had Haddley’s
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`authority to do so. More specifically, Defendants submit that using ActiveX control is
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`not a technological step under the DMCA because ActiveX is designed to provide, not
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`prevent, access as a prerequisite step to use the Scanning Enabler software.
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`Under the DMCA’s anti-circumvention provision, “[n]o person shall circumvent a
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`technological measure that effectively controls access to a [copyrighted] work.”
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`17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)(A). Circumvention means “to descramble a scrambled work, to
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`decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a
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`technological measure, without the authority of the copyright owner.” Id.
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`§ 1201(a)(3)(A). A “technological measure” is one that “‘effectively controls access to a
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`work’ if the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires the application of
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`information, or a process or a treatment, with the authority of the copyright owner, to
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 13 of 14
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`gain access to the work.” Id. § 1201(a)(3)(B). The DMCA’s anti-circumvention
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`provisions provide property owners new grounds for liability in the context of
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`unauthorized access of copyrighted material. Chamberlain Grp., Inc. v. Skylink Techs.,
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`Inc., 381 F.3d 1178, 1194 (Fed. Cir. 2004). The statute requires plaintiffs to prove
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`circumvention of technological measures controlling access to copyrighted work and lack
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`of authority of the copyright owner. Id. (citing 17 U.S.C. § 1201). Here, the Court has
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`already determined that fact issues remain with respect to the question of whether
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`Defendants were authorized (via a license) to use the Scanning Enabler software. In
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`addition, the Court concludes that fact issues remain as to whether any of the Defendants
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`circumvented technological measures controlling access to Scanning Enabler. Without
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`authority under a license, a reasonable juror could find that Defendants circumvented a
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`technological measure to use Scanning Enabler by using the license key system.
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`Therefore, summary judgment is denied as to Count III.
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`IV. County Defendants
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`Defendants also argue that the County Defendants are entitled to summary
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`judgment because they did not act volitionally. In particular, Defendants assert that
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`County Defendants were not aware that Scanning Enabler existed separately from the
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`CaseWorks software, the product that NCT licensed to County Defendants. Defendants
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`assert that NCT is the party that included Scanning Enabler in the CaseWorks product,
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`Clay and Steele Counties are simply hosts of the licensed software, the remaining County
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`Defendants accessed the hosts and enabled the scan by downloading the ActiveX
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`CASE 0:16-cv-01960-DWF-LIB Document 196 Filed 09/26/18 Page 14 of 14
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`controller, and NCT controlled the installation of CaseWorks at Clay and Steele Counties
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`during the period that Scanning Enabler was used.
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`Haddley points out that he does not allege that Clay and Steel Counties’ systems
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`were unknowingly used to make copies of Scanning Enabler without the counties’
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`consent. Instead, Haddley claims that Clay and Steele Counties knew of and had control
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`over what software was on their system and allowed other unlicensed counties to share
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`their software. In addition, Haddley claims that the alleged unlicensed counties then
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`created additional unlicensed copies on their own systems.
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`The Court concludes that, on the record before it, it is premature to dismiss the
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`County Defendants. There are still open factual questions over whether the County
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`Defendants could use the software under a license. And if it is later determined that their
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`use was not licensed, fact issues remain as to whether their use of Scanning Enabler was
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`outside their knowledge or control.
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`ORDER
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`Based upon the foregoing, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
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`1.
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`Defendants’ Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (Doc. No. [103]) is
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`DENIED.
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`Dated: September 26, 2018
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`s/Donovan W. Frank
`DONOVAN W. FRANK
`United States District Judge
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`14
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