Shopify Inc. says it has removed the vast majority of content that five textbook publishers say is pirated and infringes on their brands.

The Ottawa-based e-commerce company says less than 2% of merchants who have been targeted with takedown requests from Macmillan Learning, Cengage Learning Inc., Elsevier Inc., McGraw Hill LLC and Pearson Education Inc. remain active on the Shopify platform.

Shopify disclosed information contained in documents filed this week in a court in Virginia, where it is being sued by publishers for allegedly harboring merchants who illegally reproduce and sell publishers’ textbooks, testbanks and other manuals.

The company said it denies all of the publishers’ claims, did not cause any harm, loss or damage to them, and believes the case against it will fail because it pursued the takedown requests.

“Contrary to the plaintiffs’ false allegations in their complaint, Shopify promptly responded to the plaintiffs’ notices of infringement, removed large amounts of allegedly infringing material, and fired repeat bad actors,” Shopify said in its response.

“It was no small feat.”

The company said it has counted more than 5,000 takedown requests or notices of trademark infringement that publishers have filed under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Shopify reviewed over 50,000 unique URLs involving over 1,750 merchants submitted by publishers between October 2018 and January 2022.

Shopify claimed that over 90% of URLs were removed, 95% were removed within five business days, and over two-thirds were within one business day.

“In a small fraction of cases, takedown requests from complainants were incomplete and did not contain appropriate information that would allow Shopify to act,” the company said.

“In the majority of these cases, Shopify reached out to complainants to request additional information, but was often met with resistance or silence.”

When asked to comment on the case, Shopify spokeswoman Rebecca Feigelsohn said in an email to The Canadian Press, “We have nothing to add beyond our filing on the lawsuit.” .

Most publishers did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but Cengage referred The Canadian Press to a statement from attorney Matt Oppenheim, who represents the publishers.

“Shopify’s claim that it acted to remove known violators is patently untrue, as detailed in the publishers’ lawsuit,” the statement said.

“Time and time again, known infringers have used Shopify to sell counterfeit books in violation of copyright and trademark laws. Shopify knew it, allowed it, and took advantage of it.”

The publishers are seeking damages of up to US$150,000 per infringed copyright and US$2 million per infringed trademark.

The publishers allege in their lawsuit that Shopify is “shitting away from its obligations” even after learning of the copyright and trademark violations by continuing to let those users access the company’s offerings and providing them with ” anonymity, a false veneer of legitimacy and a haven from which to break the law.”

In its court filing, Shopify argued that the case was better suited to be brought before Congress, which Shopify said ruled out lawsuits for damages against companies that host infrastructure that violators might use. .

“Shopify regrets that, in these circumstances, plaintiffs have weighed down the court with this lawsuit,” the company said.

“While no defendant ever relishes the prospect of litigation, Shopify looks forward to the opportunity to bring the real facts to light and uphold its reputation as a responsible and trusted player in the complex ecosystem of the digital trade.”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 4, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:SHOP)

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press