The complaint

Psychwire Australia Pty Ltd v. Ifland, No. 2:26-cv-03855 (W.D. Wash., Seattle), is a 24-page complaint filed October 9, 2026, ECF No. 1, with Exhibits 1-4 and a jury demand. The defendants are Food Addiction Reset, LLC (FAR), which the complaint alleges, on information and belief, is a Washington company in Seattle; an individual who the complaint says is FAR's registered agent and only listed governor and, on information and belief, its sole owner and CEO; and Does 1-10, alleged, on information and belief, to be FAR agents or employees. Psychwire is an Australian proprietary limited company that offers online training courses and continuing education credits for mental health professionals. The complaint pleads jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1338, 1367, and 1332(a)(2), and venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b).

The works and the registration issue

The works are the 19 training videos and accompanying materials of Psychwire's 8-hour course Motivational Interviewing in Health Care, which the complaint says Psychwire and a co-founder of motivational interviewing created jointly in 2020 under a joint venture agreement and co-own in equal undivided shares. It alleges that the course was first published in Australia in 2020 on Psychwire's website, and that the videos are non-United States works exempt from the registration requirement of 17 U.S.C. § 411. In the alternative, it argues that even if the works were published simultaneously in the United States, Australian law gives cinematograph films a shorter term than U.S. law. It says Psychwire applied to register each video on August 12, 2026, and that the applications are pending. The course costs $390 per participant, and its terms limit access to qualified individuals for personal use during a set term and bar copying and redistribution.

What the complaint alleges

The complaint alleges that the individual defendant enrolled in the course on or around July 29, 2021, for a six-month term, and, on information and belief, misrepresented her qualifications to do so. It alleges, on information and belief, that she and FAR had all 19 videos copied from Psychwire's website in 2021, built them into FAR's Food Addiction Recovery Advocate (FARA) training program, which it says costs $3,997, and had recordings of the videos and related trainee sessions uploaded to Vimeo with access limited to trainees and members of FAR's paid recovery community. It alleges, on information and belief, that at least 175 people enrolled in the FARA program and that the defendants received at least $699,475 in fees. Psychwire says it learned of the use in mid-2026 from a third party, sent demand letters on August 14, August 18, and September 2, 2026, and that the individual defendant admitted using the works in the FARA training materials.

The counts and relief

  • Count I: direct copyright infringement, against all defendants, alleging, on information and belief, that the individual defendant is personally liable for the infringement by FAR and the Doe defendants.
  • Count II: contributory copyright infringement, against the individual defendant and FAR.
  • Count III: vicarious copyright infringement, against the individual defendant and FAR.
  • Count IV: breach of contract, against the individual defendant, based on the course terms.

Psychwire seeks damages and profits for each work infringed; disgorgement; contract damages; joint and several liability; an injunction; accountings and restitution; an asset freeze or constructive trust; prejudgment interest; attorneys' fees and costs; and other relief.