I’m continuing my celebration of this blog’s 20th blogiversary. In this post, I’ll reflect on some ways the blog has changed over the decades. Longer Posts. When I first started, the paradigmatic blog post in the blogosphere was a quick…
I previously summarized this case: Doe created a Grindr account at age 15 (Doe claimed he was 18). He matched with 4 men. “Doe met each man in person and was sexually assaulted and raped.” Three of the men are…
[This opinion from December got stuck in my blogging queue. I’m blogging it now as part of my ongoing efforts to highlight the censorial effects of mandatory editorial transparency laws.] Washington’s Fair Campaign Practices Act “requires Meta to maintain certain…
The Northern District of California issued three opinions, totaling over 150 pages, in rapid succession over 3 weeks last Fall. The opinions came out faster than I could blog them. I’m not going to comprehensively blog each of the opinions,…
🚨🚨 Calling all cyberlaw nerds: here is a bona fide “Law of the Horse” case. 🚨🚨 The plaintiff is an Oregon law firm practicing equine law. The defendant runs a Florida horse ranch. In 2016, the defendant licensed the plaintiff’s…
“Volitional Conduct” Doctrine Helps DistroKid Defeat Copyright Infringement Claim–White v. DistroKid
White created “beats” and got copyright registrations for them. He orally licensed the beats to Rivers for a 50% royalty and a promise to keep booking live performances for White. Rivers incorporated the beats into her album. White alleges that…
As you know, DMCA takedown notices and 512(f) can be, and regularly are, used as anti-competition tools. This time, the pugilists are fast-fashion marketplaces Shein and Temu. I imagine some of you want both of them to lose. Given that…
[A surprising ruling from Judge Bibas (sitting as a district court judge by designation) in the Thompson Reuters v. Ross case, because he reverses himself on numerous points (all in favor of the copyright owner). I sent the following comments…
Texas enacted HB 18, a typical smorgasbord law packed full of policy ideas–all bad and undertheorized–under the pretext of protecting kids online. In September, the court enjoined part of the law. See CCIA v. Paxton. Now, the court enjoins much…
🎶 It was 20 years ago today…Sgt. Pepper taught the band to blog… 🎶 (Close enough: the actual anniversary was Saturday). On February 8, 2005, I started blogging here. 🎉🎉🎉 Over the past 20 years: this blog has published a…