Foster v. Rodriguez, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22590 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 25, 2016):
The question, then, is whether there is a genuine dispute of material fact as to when the photograph was first published. Defendants offer Lee's declaration and a supplemental internet search as evidence that the photograph appeared on one of Lashpia's websites in December 2012. Foster offers evidence from the "Wayback Machine"--a service that archives webpages as they existed at a given time--that the image did not, in fact, appear [*17] on the websites until much later. Notwithstanding potential evidentiary problems with the Wayback Machine, it is clear that Foster could present admissible evidence at trial sufficient to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to when the photograph appeared on the internet. See, e.g., Karén Gazaryan, Authenticity of Archived Websites: The Need to Lower the Evidentiary Hurdle Is Imminent, 39 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J. 216, 229 (2013); Deborah R. Eltgroth, Best Evidence and the Wayback Machine: Toward A Workable Authentication Standard for Archived Internet Evidence, 78 Fordham L. Rev. 181, 184 (2009); Matthew Fagan, "Can You Do A Wayback on That?" the Legal Community's Use of Cached Web Pages in and Out of Trial, 13 B.U. J. Sci. & Tech. L. 46, 56 (2007). Particularly because Foster has presented an affidavit from an employee of Internet Archive--the foundation that operates the Wayback Machine--the Court is persuaded that Foster would be able to present relevant, authentic, non-hearsay evidence in the form of an archived webpage produced by the Wayback Machine. There is a genuine issue of material fact as to when the photograph was first published. Summary judgment on this issue is therefore denied.
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