Another Employee Behaves Badly on Social Media. Really, You “Can’t Make This Up.” — In re Palleschi
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with a comment from Eric] Palleschi v. Cassano, 2013 WL 322573 (N.Y. App. Div. Jan. 29, 2013). The trial court decision. Someone calls 911 complaining of a “gynecological emergency.” A fire dept. employee, an emergency medical…
Conviction Upheld for Impersonating Dead Sea Scrolls Scholars by Sending Out Emails Signed by Others – People v. Glob
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] People v. Golb, 2013 NY Slip Op 00436 (N.Y. App. Div. Jan. 29, 2013) The defendant was charged with impersonation and identity theft, among other things, for using emails to impersonate others: Defendant is the son…
Google and Yahoo Defeat Trademark Lawsuit Over Keyword Ads–Clara Ison v. Google
By Eric Goldman Clara Ison v. Google, 1-10-CV-163032 (Cal. Superior Ct. January 22, 2013), The fourth amended complaint. The case docket. I try to track every trademark lawsuit regarding Google AdWords. Thus, I am embarrassed to admit that I just…
State Laws Restricting Social Media Use by Sex Offenders Are Failing in Court
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] Statutory schemes in three different states intending to regulating the online activities of convicted sex offenders have meet with judicial disapproval. Doe v. Nebraska, 09CV456 (D. Neb. Oct. 17, 2012): Nebraska’s statute…
17 USC 512(f) Is Dead–Lenz v. Universal Music
By Eric Goldman Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., 2013 WL 271673 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 24, 2013). This is the long-running case involving a YouTube video of a baby dancing to a Prince song. Universal Music overzealously took the video down…
Are Google Search Results Good Proxies for Secondary Meaning in Trademark Law?
By Eric Goldman I want to call your attention to “The Google Shortcut to Trademark Law” by Lisa Larrimore Ouellette, a post-doc at Yale ISP. You might not be familiar with Lisa’s work because to date she’s mostly focused on…
Why You Should Consider Teaching Advertising Law (Including Comments from Felix Wu of Cardozo)
By Eric Goldman This semester I’m teaching Advertising & Marketing Law again. My syllabus. I’ve written before about the course and my casebook reader with Rebecca Tushnet. In this post, I’d like to recap some remarks I made in a…
My Talk to High Schoolers About Accountability for Online Content
By Eric Goldman Earlier this month, I spoke at Los Altos High School as part of their “History Week” (check out that speaker roster!). The topic title is “Internet and Social Media Usage Rights,” which I turned into a talk…
47 USC 230 Protects Online White Pages for Publishing Incorrect Phone Number–Nasser v. WhitePages
By Eric Goldman Nasser v. WhitePages, Inc., 2012 WL 6858438 (W.D. Va. magistrate report and recommendations December 20, 2012). The judge approved the magistrate report on January 14, 2013. [Note: Venkat represented WhitePages, but he had no role in preparing…
Is Recusal Required When a Judge is Facebook “Friends” With a Prosecutor? Question Certified to Florida Supreme Court — Domville v. State
[Post by @VBalasubramani] Domville v. State, No. 4D12 556 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. Jan. 16, 2013) [pdf] We blogged about a decision where a Florida court ruled that a judge who was hearing a criminal case and was Facebook friends…