VHT Inc. v. Zillow Group Inc.

Issues: (1) Whether a plaintiff must prove that a defendant engaged in some form of volitional conduct in order to prove direct copyright infringement, as described in Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissenting opinion in American Broadcasting Companies v. Aereo, Inc.; (2) whether, if so, that requirement is properly understood as identical to common-law proximate causation, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit held here and as one member of the panel opined in BWP Media USA Inc. v. Polyvore Inc.; or a less demanding causation standard, as the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 3rd, 4th and 5th Circuits have held; or requiring only an affirmative act with a meaningful connection to the infringement, as suggested by other members of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit panel in Polyvore; and (3) whether a volitional-conduct requirement insulates from liability for direct infringement defendants who create and maintain automated systems for making copies of content not requested by users, as the 9th Circuit held, in conflict with the Supreme Court’s decision in Aereo and opinions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia and 2nd Circuits.