DUBLIN, IRELAND (May 27, 2025) — Robert Cox, an Irish author and operator of the subscription-based website Words in Edgewise, has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against attorney Lalit K. Loomba, Esq., and The Quinn Law Firm, PLLC. The suit alleges copyright infringement and breach of Terms of Service related to an original article and image Cox published on January 6, 2025.
Cox, a resident of Dublin, Ireland, claims sole authorship and exclusive rights to the article titled My Response to Lawfare by Dawn Warren, Adam Salgado, and the City of New Rochelle, which includes a photograph of Adam Salgado and a derivative work combining the photo with a screenshot from a City Council meeting video. The work was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office on May 26, 2025, under a pending registration number.
According to the complaint, Loomba, an attorney at The Quinn Law Firm with an office at 399 Knollwood Road, Suite 220, White Plains, New York, subscribed to Words in Edgewise on or about January 6, 2025. The subscription was subject to Terms of Service, which grant a limited license for personal, non-commercial use and prohibit reproduction and distribution without permission. The “Ownership and Restrictions on Use” section states: “Subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use, we grant you a limited license to use the Site and Materials for your personal use only; provided that you may not use, reproduce, modify, display, publicly perform, distribute, create derivative works of or circumvent any technological measure that effectively controls access to the Site and/or Materials in any way including, without limitation, by manual or automatic device or process, for any purpose.”
The “Code of Conduct” section prohibits: “upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any User Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party.”
Cox alleges that despite these restrictions, Loomba converted the article and image into a PDF and distributed it to two lawyers at The Quinn Law Firm and two employees of the City of New Rochelle, none of whom are subscribers. A cease-and-desist letter sent by Cox to Loomba on May 10, 2025, noted that this action violated his exclusive rights under 17 U.S.C. § 106 and the Terms of Service, estimating that at least five individuals accessed the article without payment, with a potential total of ten if further distribution occurred. The complaint suggests the PDF may have been circulated further, with the full extent unknown to Cox. The suit claims this action, supported by City of New Rochelle funding, undermined the paywall model, causing market harm and lost subscription revenue estimated at $70 annually per non-subscriber.
In the May 10 letter, Cox demanded Loomba cease further infringement, destroy all copies of the PDF, and pay a $2,100 settlement—based on a 3X multiple of $700 in lost subscriptions at $70 each for ten individuals—plus a signed agreement acknowledging the infringement. Cox warned that failure to respond by May 24, 2025, could lead to a lawsuit seeking statutory damages up to $150,000 for willful infringement, attorney’s fees, and a breach-of-contract claim. The Terms of Service also permit termination of access and injunctive relief, with disputes subject to binding arbitration unless Cox opts for court action to enjoin infringement.
The first cause of action cites copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq., asserting that Defendants reproduced and distributed the work without consent, potentially entitling Cox to actual damages under 17 U.S.C. § 504(b) or statutory damages up to $150,000 under 17 U.S.C. § 504(c) if deemed willful. Cox also seeks injunctive relief under 17 U.S.C. § 502 to prevent further infringement.
The second cause of action alleges breach of the Terms of Service, claiming Loomba’s actions violated the “Ownership and Restrictions on Use” and “Code of Conduct” sections, resulting in damages including lost revenue estimated at $2,100 for ten individuals at $70 each, plus harm to the content distribution model.
Cox, proceeding pro se from his address in Dublin, Ireland, demands a jury trial and seeks a court order to destroy all copies of the PDF, disclose recipients’ identities, and award costs, interest, and any other relief deemed just.
I wrote more about this on Words in Edgewise but that is for paid subscribers: Irish Journalist Strikes Back: Cox Sues New York Lawyer Loomba in Copyright Showdown
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This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.
