Judge Dismisses Claims Against Pandora for Violating Michigan’s Version of the VPPA – Deacon v. Pandora Media
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Deacon v. Pandora Media, Inc., 2012 WL 4497796 (N.D. Cal.; Sept. 28, 2012) The plaintiffs sued Pandora for improperly disclosing their “listening history” and related information (bookmarked tracks, stations, recent activity, and bookmarked artists). Plaintiffs alleged…
Big Problems in California’s New Law Restricting Employers’ Access to Employees’ Online Accounts (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown signed two laws restricting demands for social media accounts or login credentials. Senate Bill 1349 restricts schools’ access to students’ social media accounts. Assembly Bill 1844 restricts employers’ access to employees’…
If You’re a Prisioner Trying to Hide Your Unauthorized Phone, Don’t Brag About the Phone on Facebook! — Lloyd v. Shartle
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Lloyd v. Shartle, 11-1419 (JBS) (D.N.J.; Sept. 21, 2012) We’ve posted a ton about people imprudently posting stuff to their Facebook account that comes back to haunt them in litigation. (Eric has catalogued some of these…
Marilyn Monroe’s Image is Cast Into the Public Domain — Sort Of (Guest Blog Post)
by Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa [check out Prof. Ochoa’s casebook on publicity rights / affiliate link] In 2011, Marilyn Monroe was #3 on Forbes magazine’s annual list of top-earning dead celebrities, earning $27 million for her estate. Next year, however,…
Recent Ruling in Triple Town/Yeti Town Game App Dispute Provides Cautionary Lessons for Both EA and Zynga (Partial Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Spry Fox LLC v. Lolapps, Inc., 2:12-cv-00147-RAJ (W.D. Wash. Sept. 18, 2012). The complaint. Even with all of the media coverage over EA’s ($EA) recent copyright infringement lawsuit against Zynga ($ZNGA) (including my blog post on the case), there was…
Do You Think Software Patents Are a Problem? Then Come to This Conference, SCU, Nov. 16
By Eric Goldman I’m sure you are feeling the ongoing angst associated with software patents. In the past few months, Google, Judge Posner, and the opinion pages have all expressed dismay about software patents and how they’re being used. Ancedotally,…
Business School Professors May Be Liable for Defamatory Blog Post–ZAGG v. Catanach
By Eric Goldman ZAGG, Inc. v. Catanach, 2012 WL 4462813 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 27, 2012) Anthony H. Catanach Jr. and J. Edward Ketz are business school professors, Canatach at Villanova’s business school and Ketz at Penn State’s business school. Together,…
Lovelorn Plaintiffs Strike Out Against Match.com – Robinson v. Match.com
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Robinson v. Match.com, 10-CV-2651-L (N.D. Tex. Aug. 10, 2012) [pdf] This is another suit brought by users of a dating site who claim that a dating site deceptively leaves inactive users in its system, thus reducing…
“Notes and Questions” About the UMG v. Shelter Capital Case (Excerpt from my Internet Law Reader)
By Eric Goldman As I previously mentioned, I have posted my Internet Law reader as a $7.50 download. In connection with adding the UMG v. Shelter Capital case, I completely redid the “Notes and Questions” section following the edited case….
We Need Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation, But Sen. Kyl’s “Free Press Act of 2012? Isn’t the Answer (Yet) (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman It’s a sad but all-too-common story nowadays. A consumer posts a negative online review about a business. Angered by the negative feedback, and fearful of the lost business, the business threatens the consumer with a lawsuit. Recognizing…