Fonovisa, Inc. v. Cherry Auction, Inc.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
76 F.3d 259 (1996)
Cherry Auction (defendant) operated a swap meet, charging vendors daily rental fees and customers for admission, parking, and food; a 1991 sheriff's raid found over 38,000 counterfeit recordings among its vendors, and Cherry Auction refused a subsequent lawful request to provide vendor information. Fonovisa (plaintiff) later found its copyrighted recordings still being counterfeited and sold at the swap meet and sued Cherry Auction for vicarious and contributory copyright infringement; the district court dismissed for failure to state a claim, and Fonovisa appealed.
Whether a party not guilty of direct copyright infringement may be held liable on a theory of vicarious or contributory liability.