The Shadow' Publisher Seeks Judgment Against Internet 'Pirate'

The publisher of pulp-fiction classics "The Shadow," "Doc Savage" and "The Avenger" has asked a federal court to grant judgment in its favor against a man whom the publisher says is selling the works illegally over the Internet.

Advance Magazine Publishers Inc., more widely known as Condé Nast Publications, is suing David Leach for allegedly infringing its copyrights and trademarks.

Condé Nast owns registered trademarks for the famous phrase derived from "The Shadow" — "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? The Shadow knows." It also owns copyrights and trademarks for the name "The Shadow" itself, along with "Doc Savage" and "The Avenger."

The works date back to 1931. They appeared first in magazines and then became popular radio shows.

In its complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Condé Nast alleges Leach has been selling and distributing copies of the works for years through his businesses Disruptive Publishing, Blackmask.com and Smartset.com.

According to the complaint, Leach scans the copyrighted works into electronic format, which he reprints as paperback books. He then sells both the electronic and printed versions of the works or makes them available for free downloads.

Leach allegedly removes the original copyright notices from the texts and replaces them with the Disruptive Publishing or Blackmask.com names.

Condé Nast asserts Leach is well aware of his infringing activities and that his actions are widespread and willful, for the sole purpose of making a profit.

Leach, who is representing himself, responded to the lawsuit by asserting that Condé Nast has left out relevant facts in its complaint. He says the company is also guilty of "unclean hands" by claiming intellectual property rights in works that have been published previously and by allegedly defrauding the estates of the authors.

Leach asserts the mark for "The Shadow" is in the public domain.

Leach says Condé Nast did not print any of the "Doc Savage" books after 1990 and that he took ownership by adverse possession of the "Doc Savage" magazine and "The Shadow" stories.

Adverse possession refers to someone gaining ownership rights through use of property for a defined period of time, with knowledge of the owner of the property who fails to assert his rights in the property.

Condé Nast has now filed a motion for summary judgment on its copyright infringement claim.

The publisher says simply that Leach is an Internet pirate.

"The defendant may fancy himself an electronic Don Quixote, swaggering across the Internet, claiming the right to scan and sell whatever he pleases, as if he were challenging settled notions of copyright ownership for the good of the public. But he is just a rogue," Condé Nast asserts in its memorandum of law.

It calls Leach's theory of adverse possession "truly remarkable," observing that if Leach were correct, the law would be rewarding his piracy.

Similarly, Leach's assertion of the unclean-hands defense is factually and legally incorrect, Condé Nast says, because it is indeed the rightful owner of the rights at issue.

Arguing that Leach's theories conflict with constitutional, statutory and decisional law, Condé Nast says the inescapable conclusion is that Leach is liable for copyright infringement.