How Well Do You Know IP Trivia? Let’s Find Out
Last week, the High Tech Law Institute hosted WIPIP, a conference where IP professors and fellows present their academic works-in-progress for peer feedback. As part of the festivities, we had an IP trivia night–which I believe is the first IP…
9th Circuit Says Plaintiff Had Standing to Sue Spokeo for Fair Credit Reporting Violations
Robins sued Spokeo alleging that Spokeo reported incorrect information about him—that he held a graduate degree and was wealthy—and this caused him difficulty in his job search and other harm. He alleged claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and…
H2 2013 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP)
Copyright * Appellate briefs in the latest Second Circuit trip for YouTube v. Viacom. Prior blog post. * Fox Broadcasting Company, Inc. v. Dish Network L.L.C., 723 F.3d 1067 (9th Cir. 2013). Another case where remote DVR users made the copies, not…
Top Ten Internet Law Developments Of 2013 (Forbes Cross-Post)
A look back at the Internet law highlights of 2013: #10: Copyright Defendants Get High-Stakes Wins. 2013 saw several copyright defendants win long-running litigation affairs–and potentially crack open new markets, including (1) Google’s stirring win in its nearly decade-long Google…
Video Privacy Protection Act Plaintiffs Can Proceed Against Hulu Absent Showing of Actual Injury
Plaintiffs sued Hulu asserting violations of the Video Privacy Protection Act based on alleged disclosures to Comscore and Facebook of plaintiffs’ viewing information. The court denied an initial motion to dismiss by Hulu based on standing. Hulu later brought a…
Florida Drops Ill-Conceived Proposal To Ban Competitive Keyword Advertising By Lawyers (Forbes Cross-Post)
In March, the Florida State Bar’s Standing Committee on Advertising proposed an ethics opinion (Proposed Advisory Opinion A-12-1). The opinion was designed to help Florida lawyers understand what they could ethically do with online marketing. It targeted a melange of…
Google Gets Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Privacy Policy Integration–In re Google Privacy Policy
This is another potentially important but head-scratching Northern District of California ruling in an Internet privacy lawsuit. This lawsuit involves Google’s integration of its various product-specific databases of user information into one giant across-Google Database of Ruin. It was inevitable…
Employee Termination Based on Mistaken Belief of Facebook Post Authorship Upheld — Smizer v. Community Mennonite Early Learning Ctr.
Smizer v. Community Mennonite Early Learning Ctr, 2013 WL 5769936 (7th Cir. Oct. 25, 2013) [pdf] Lawrence Smizer was a teacher’s aide at Mennonite Early Learning Center. His sister was apparently involved in a bitter custody dispute involving her son….
Social Media Rant Against Airline Employee Wasn’t Defamatory But May Be False Light–Patterson v. Grant-Herms
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] Patterson v. Grant-Herms, 2013 Tenn. App. 675 (Tenn. Ct. App. Oct. 8, 2013) Defendant Natalie Grant-Herms wasn’t allowed to board a flight at the same time as her four year old daughter,…
Organizing an “Internet Safety” Presentation? Don’t Troll Through Students’ Facebook Accounts Looking for Bikini Photos
[By Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Chaney v. Fayette County Public School Dist., 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 143030 (N.D. Ga. Sept. 30, 2013). Chelsea Chaney posted a photo to Facebook of herself in a bikini standing next to a…