Judge Justifies Calling Copyright Lawyer a ‘Troll’

A New York copyright lawyer labeled a “copyright troll” by a federal judge failed to get the insult recanted.

Richard P. Liebowitz, a lawyer who has filed more than 700 infringement suits on behalf of photographers over the course of two years, complained that the epithet was inaccurate.

But Judge Denise Cote of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said her use of the term in a February ruling hitting Liebowitz with a $10,000 bill for failing to comply with litigation rules was warranted.

Cote noted in her Oct. 26 denial that 500 of the ...