Are Podcasters Going to Get Sued? Personal Audio LLC Attacks Carolla, HowStuffWorks
Editor’s Note: I made a change to the article to point more toward Ace Broadcasting. Keep in mind, NO PODCAST IS GETTING SUED. Only Podcast hosting companies.
Earlier today news spread of the company that sued Apple back in 2011 is at it again. They have issued lawsuits to ACE Broadcasting and HowStuffWorks.com. While they received $8 million from Apple for a patent dispute, can they really go after a podcast?
The Lawsuit
The company Personal Audio LLC filed an Intellectual Property patent against HowStuffWorks (2:2013cv00015), Togi Entertainment (2:2013cv00013) and Ace Broadcasting Company (2:2013cv00014) – the official company of the Adam Carolla podcast. All of these cases were filed Jan 7th at Texas Eastern District Court.
What Carolla and HowStuffWorks are being Sued for
The three sites are being sued for a patent infringement held by Personal Audio LLC – created by Jim Logan, Dan Goessling and Charles Call. The patent – 8,112,504 “System for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence” which were filed in 2009 and given patent on Feb 7, 2012.
Wait – February 7th 2012?
Yes. These are based on patents that were filed for radio or television in 1996. The company itself filed for LLC before they went after companies – assuming they wanted personal protection so they wouldn’t lose their houses if they lost.
Other Lawsuits of Personal Audio LLC
Personal Audio also has sued Apple, Sirus XM Radio, Coby Electronics and Archos. The company has sued Apple a series of four times. They sued Samsung, RIM, Motorola Mobility, HTC and LG.
There is also a lawsuit against Amazon Digital Services.
The company is definitely going after the way podcasters are pushing content. So far they have received over 8 million from Apple from patents.
The company – who claims they are pioneers of playlists & podcasting – has licensed their technology with many of the companies they sued.
What Does that Mean for Podcasting?
Nothing for now. These patents are more for segment podcasting and being able to navigate through shows. Podcasts themselves are not at risk at this time.
So go ahead and continue to podcast!!
