Tamburo v. Dworkin

MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER

JOAN B. GOTTSCHALL, District Judge.

The essential facts in this 2004 case are undisputed. Defendant Kristen Henry, a dog breeder and computer programmer, spent almost five years creating an extensive database of dog pedigrees, which she made freely available for use by fellow breeders through her web site. Plaintiffs John Tamburo and Versity Corporation (‘Versity”) used an automated web browser to harvest the data from Henry’s website. They incorporated it into software which they attempted to sell to dog breeders for a profit. Henry was outraged. When the plaintiffs…