Q2 2016 Quick Links, Part 1 (Intellectual Property)
Copyright * Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin, No. CV 15-03462-RGK (AGRx) (C.D. Cal. June 23, 2016): Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven isn’t substantially similar to Spirit’s Taurus. The plaintiff’s lawyer explains why it was a loss for both sides. My Q:…
Web Host Defeats Copyright Liability Despite Mishandled Takedown Notice–Hydrenta v. Luchian
The plaintiff produces pornography and distributes it through paid membership sites. The defendants run ad-supported websites that allow users to upload videos, a total of 475,000 user-submitted videos. Moderators screen user submissions to confirm they do not contain “child pornography,…
A Dozen Organizations File Comments Opposing Copyright Office’s Plan to Undermine Section 512
I recently posted about the Copyright Office’s proposed new prices for designating 17 USC 512 agents for notice. While the proposed price reduction sounded good, the announcement obscured the real news: the Copyright Office still wants to nix valid designations…
Trade Secret Owner Penalized For ‘Specious’ Misappropriation Lawsuit–BTS v. Exclusive Perspectives
As you know, I’ve expressed many concerns about the new ex parte seizure provisions in the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA). To support the ex parte seizure provision, DTSA proponents sometimes argued that legitimate trade secret owners and their lawyers…
County Attorney’s Deletion of Constituent’s Facebook Comment May Violate First Amendment
Governments have embraced social media with zeal, from politicians and police departments taking to Twitter, to cities releasing apps designed for citizens to report potholes. A direct and instant communication link between the citizenry, and those governing it, can only be…
Announcing the 2016 Edition of ‘Internet Law: Cases & Materials’
I’m pleased to announce this year’s edition of my Internet Law casebook, Internet Law: Cases & Materials. It’s available for sale as a PDF at Gumroad for $8, as a Kindle book for $9.99, and in hard copy at CreateSpace…
Supreme Court Revisits Copyright’s Attorney Fee Shifts–Kirtsaeng v. Wiley
The Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 505, has a discretionary “loser-pays” attorneys’ fee shift. We’ve blogged repeatedly about abusive copyright enforcements where that fee shift provides a modicum of fairness to defendants (e.g., Inglewood v. Teixeira; Katz v. Chevaldina; Righthaven v….
State Sup. Ct. Affirms Harassment and Breach of Peace Conviction for Posting Pages from Diary to Facebook
I blogged about this case a few years ago at the appeals court stage. (“Conviction for Posting Pages From Teenager’s Diary Via Mail and Facebook Partially Reversed“.) In a nutshell, the defendant was accused of taking, without permission, pages from…
Review Website Gets Hammered In Court–Consumer Cellular v. ConsumerAffairs
This is not a good opinion for the review website industry. However, the court’s harshest treatment turns on the idiosyncratic practices of ConsumerAffairs.com, which set a key Fourth Circuit Section 230 precedent in 2009 but whose current business practices probably…
North Carolina State Supreme Court Strikes Down Cyberbullying Statute
Dillion Price, the putative victim, was the subject of Facebook discussions by his high school peers. A classmate of Price’s posted a screenshot of a sexually themed text message Price allegedly sent him. Commentary ensued, and defendant Robert Bishop commented…