Omega World Travel v. Mummagraphics [1]

Mummagraphics, Inc., run by anti-spam activist Mark Mumma, operated websites devoted to opposing spam messages. Mumma received a number of unsolicited emails from Cruise.com, a subsidiary of travel agency Omega World Travel, Inc. In early 2005, Mumma posted comments on one of his websites accusing Omega, Cruise.com, and Daniel and Gloria Bohan (Omega's founders) of being "spammers." Mumma also posted a photo of the Bohans taken from the Omega website with a caption describing them as "cruise.com spammers."

In February 2005, Omega, Cruise.com and the Bohans sued Mumma and Mummagraphics in federal court, claiming defamation, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unauthorized use of the Bohans' likenesses. Mummagraphics and Mumma counterclaimed for violations of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM Act) and an oklahoma anti-spam statute.

The federal court granted summary judgment to Mummagraphics and Mumma on all of the plaintiffs' claims, except the defamation claim. It granted summary judgment to Gloria Bohan, Omega, and Cruise.com on the defendants' counterclaims based on the CAN-SPAM Act and Oklahoma law. Mummagraphics appealed, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed dismissal of the counterclaims. Omega World Travel, Inc. v. Mummagraphics [2], 469 F.3d 348 (4th Cir. 2006).

The defamation claim went to trial, and the plaintiffs won a $2.5 million jury verdict in their favor. On June 1, 2007, the court vacated the original judgment and remitted the judgment to $330,000 -- $10,000 each in compensatory damages to Omega World Travel, Cruise.com, and Gloria Bohan, and $100,000 each in punitive damages to Omega, Cruise.com, and Bohan. Plaintiffs are seeking to enforce [3] the judgment in the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma.