The popular public-records search site SearchSystems.net has won a federal court judgment of $780,000 against the competing site CourtsOnline, according to this press release. A federal judge in San Francisco entered the order against the site’s creator, Mark Musselman, for stealing content from SearchSystems.net, the release says. The order also bars Musselman and his associates from operating any Web business relating to public records access.

I wrote about SearchSystems in a 2004 column, Useful Search Tools You May Not Know About, and as part of my 60 Sites in 60 Minutes presentation at the 2004 ABA Techshow.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.