Intranet distribution can be suprisingly expensive

Reuters reports that a federal jury awarded $20 million in damages to market analyst Lowry’s Reports Inc for copyright infringement by broker Legg Mason. Legg Mason paid for a single $700 per year newsletter subscription, but placed that newsletter on its corporate intranet, where 1300 employees could access the newsletter. The jury award included more than $800,000 in contract damages and about $19 million in copyright damages.