TTAB Denies Trademark Registration for #MagicNumber108 Tagmark–In re DePorter (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Alexandra Jane Roberts After 1908, beleaguered Chicago Cubs fans waited 108 long years for their team to win the world series again. And Grant DePorter, whose application to register #MagicNumber108 as a trademark for shirts was at…
Section 230 Preempts Unfair Competition Law Claim–Taylor v. Twitter
This is an extraordinary opinion. I can’t recall another opinion where the judge so candidly admits that he made both procedural and substantive mistakes. As troubling as those mistakes were, it actually gives me great confidence to see a judge…
Supreme Court Requires Completed Copyright Registration Before Filing Suit–Fourth Estate Public Benefit v. Wall-Street (Guest Blog Post)
Guest Blog Post by Tyler Ochoa On March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, No. 17-571, 139 S.Ct. ____, 2019 U.S. LEXIS 1730. The case involved the interpretation of section 411(a) of the…
Twitter Defeats Yet Another Lawsuit from a Suspended User–Cox v. Twitter
Cox alleged tweeted: “Islam is a Philosophy of Conquests wrapped in Religious Fantasy & uses Racism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Mutilation, Torture, Authoritarianism, Homicide, Rape . . . Peaceful Muslims are Marginal Muslims who are Heretics & Hypocrites to Islam. Islam is…
Filtering Software Defeats Another Lawsuit–PC Drivers v. Malwarebytes
I blogged about this case in September. PC Drivers makes software that claims to help speed up users’ computers. Malwarebytes blocked it as a “potentially unwanted program,” or PUP. Litigation ensued. In the prior ruling, Malwarebytes won big, but then…
It’s Really Hard to Win a Motion to Dismiss Based on 512(c)–Myeress v. Buzzfeed
512(c) and 230 diverge in key procedural respects, including the implications of scienter for motions to dismiss. Section 230(c)(1) has no scienter standards, so defendants can win on motions to dismiss despite virtually any scienter allegations. In contrast, Section 512(c)’s…
Another Failed Legal Challenge to Zillow’s Zestimate–EJ MGT v. Zillow
The plaintiff is a real estate investor. It bought and fixed up a property in New Jersey. Afterwards, the plaintiff listed the property for $7,788,000. On the property’s Zillow page, right below the listing price, Zillow displayed its zestimate of $3,703,597….
Top Internet Law Developments of 2018
My schedule tends to get busy around each new year, so my year-end recaps keep coming later and later. I hope it’s better late than never. It’s been a rough year for Internet law. As I tweeted in June: When…
2H 2018 Quick Links, Part 7 (Content Moderation, Section 230, & More)
[ugh, somehow this got lost in my drafts folder. Sharing it now…] * Vice: “The Impossible Job: Inside Facebook’s Struggle to Moderate Two Billion People.” If you read only one article on content moderation, choose this one. Things I learned included: Facebook…
Recap of the California Assembly Hearing on the California Consumer Privacy Act
Yesterday, the California Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection held a hearing on the California Consumer Privacy Act. I believe this is the first legislative hearing ever on the law. The initial passage took place in a frenetic week,…