Takeaway: Do not copy significant portions of someone else’s copyrighted text without their permission.
William Hill filed a lawsuit against FanDuel this week for copyright infringement. The complaint alleges that FanDuel stole William Hill’s pamphlet titled “How to Bet Guide” by copying significant portions of the guide. FanDuel was allegedly handing out their own version of the pamphlet at Meadowlands Racetrack.
According to the complaint, FanDuel went as far as to even forget to take out William Hill’s name from the pamphlet in addition to the significant amount of copied text. The copyrighted work contains explanations of terminology and procedures in the context of specific sports. The textual components of the copyrighted work and the allegedly infringing work have the same text but have a slightly different layout design.
In addition to the allegedly infringing pamphlet, William Hill has asserted that FanDuel is infringing the same copyrighted content on their website. In a similar manner, the website contains the same text as the pamphlet but with a slightly different design.
