The High Court has dismissed Entain's copyright claims against Outplayed.com and Oddsmonkey, allowing the operator to amend its allegations. However, Entain retains its brand claims against the two companies. Justice Cawson ruled that Entain cannot proceed with revising its copyright claims without urgently modifying its pleadings.
Entain filed the lawsuit in August of the previous year, alleging breaches of copyright and trademark by the websites in question. In his ruling, Justice Cawson noted: "Authorship-based qualification fails for want of authors. I do not consider that it can be appropriate for claimants, as late in the day as the case management conference in a case and after the proceedings have been on foot for some 11 months or so, to say that they are in the process of obtaining the requisite assignments without explaining why this could not have been done before now…".
In response, the defendants challenged Entain's copyright assertions, arguing that the company had not identified the creators of the works in question, nor provided their publication dates or demonstrated originality. They further contended that much of the material had been developed by third-party firms.
Entain has a limited time to revise its copyright claims if it wishes to move forward with the case. The judge dismissed many of Entain's efforts to strike out portions of the defendants' defense.
An Entain spokesperson stated, "Entain does not comment on active litigation. However, as we have previously said, the matched betting business model is a parasitic one, and we take the protection of our brands and reputation extremely seriously. We have strong grounds for our claim and remain confident in it."
