eBay Venue Selection Clause Upheld in Texas
By Eric Goldman In re eBay, Inc., 2010 WL 2695803 (Tex. App. Ct. July 8, 2010) In Comb v. PayPal, 218 F. Supp. 2d 1165 (N.D. Cal. 2002), PayPal defended a putative class action by invoking the arbitration clause in…
Funky Ninth Circuit Opinion on Domain Names and Nominative Use–Toyota v. Tabari
By Eric Goldman Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. v. Tabari, 2010 WL 2680891 (9th Cir. July 8, 2010) Every time I see a federal appellate opinion on domain names, I’m vaguely reminded of the Country Joe song I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-To-Die Rag, whose…
AOL’s Disclosure of Search Data May Support Claims Under California Law
[Post by Venkat] Does v. AOL LLC, Case No. C06-5866 SBA (N.D. Cal.; June 22, 2010) Plaintiffs bringing a class action against AOL for improper disclosure of search data scored in an initial victory in the Northern District of California….
Copyright Statutory Damages Award Violates Constitutional Due Process–Sony v. Tenenbaum
By Eric Goldman Sony BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, 2010 WL 2705499 (D. Mass. July 9, 2010) I have largely skipped blogging the Sony v. Tenenbaum lawsuit because (1) it was well-discussed elsewhere, and (2) for the most part, it…
Q2 2010 Quick Links Part 3 (Special Facebook Edition)
By Eric Goldman It’s been an exciting quarter for Facebook, which earned its own special quick links edition. I’ve also been prompted to take a step back and reassess my relationship with Facebook. From about 2007 through 2009, I really…
Online Sports Ticketing Exchange Wins Dismissal Under Website User Agreement — Duffy v. The Ticketreserve, Inc.
[Post by Venkat] Duffy v. The Ticketreserve Inc. (FirstDIBZ.com), Case No. 09 C 1746 (N.D. Ill. July 6, 2010) FirstDIBZ.com operates an online market place where end users can “buy, sell, and trade options to purchase tickets to sporting events.”…
Griper Gets Attorneys’ Fees After Successful Defense–Career Agents v. Careeragentsnetwork.biz
By Eric Goldman Career Agents Network, Inc. v. Careeragentsnetwork.biz, 2010 WL 2632298 (E.D. Mich. June 29, 2010). The CMLP page. The underlying dispute involves a non-commercial gripe site. The trademark owner sells a type of “business in a box” (like…
Q2 2010 Quick Links Part 2
By Eric Goldman Marketing and Advertising * Good talk from FTC Chair Leibowitz: “we have great hopes for self-regulation….So long as self-regulation is making forward progress, the FTC is not interested in regulating” behavioral targeting. * NYT on teaching middle…
Scribd Can’t Shake Copyright and Publicity Rights Lawsuit on Motion to Dismiss–Williams v. Scribd
By Eric Goldman Williams v. Scribd, 3:09-cv-01836-LAB -BGS (S.D. Cal. June 23, 2010). Larry Williams has written several books on commodities trading (their titles suggest they fit into the “Make Money Fast” genre). He alleges that rogue Scribd users, including…
Puzzling 9th Circuit Dilution Opinion Over eVisa.com–Visa v. JSL
By Eric Goldman VISA International Service Ass’n v. JSL Corp., No. 08-15206 (9th Cir. June 28, 2010) A number of us in the trademark community are scratching our heads at last week’s Ninth Circuit trademark dilution opinion, authored by Judge…