Freelance Blogger Denied Unemployment Insurance–In re Mitchell
This case involves author Greg Mitchell. The Nation retained Mitchell as a freelance blogger in 2010. He was expected to blog on a daily/near-daily basis in exchange for $46,800/year paid monthly. He would be separately compensated for any pieces the…
Ten Worst Section 230 Rulings of 2016 (Plus the Five Best)
2016 was a tough year in many respects (check out the #Fuck2016 hashtag), including a swarm of adverse Section 230 rulings. Even in paradigms where the immunity still functions reasonably well, such as user comments on message boards or online…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 6 (Section 230)
* Smith v. Alphabet Inc., 2016 WL 3660725 (S.D. Ala. May 23, 2016): “plaintiff’s citation to (and discussion of) § 230 of the CDA in no manner advances his arguments against the corporate defendants inasmuch as it is clear that…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 5 (Patents, Other IP, Employment, CFAA)
Patents * Tim Holbrook on how slow FDA procedures contribute to de facto monopolies for off-patent drugs/devices * Washington Post: Patent lawsuits swell and watchdog says the government is to blame * Washington Post: Patent office workers bilked the government…
Tweeting Death Threats Isn’t Juvenile Delinquency–In re R.D.
Teens and Twitter–what could go wrong? A tweetstorm broke out among Colorado high schoolers related to the Arapahoe High School shooting. R.D. joined the fray, tweeting A.C. (at his Twitter alias @iTweetYouShutUp) messages including: • “[i]f I see your bitch…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 4 (Counterfeits and Olympics)
“Counterfeits” * Gucci v. Alibaba, Case 1:15-cv-03784-PKC (SDNY Aug. 4, 2016) (cites omitted): Plaintiffs have failed to plausibly allege that the Merchant Defendants engaged in anything but independent conduct, without coordination and for their own economic self-interest. Indeed, the Merchant…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 3 (Trademarks and Domain Names)
Trademarks * Evoqua Water Technologies LLC v. M.W. Watermark LLC, 2016 WL 4727432 (W.D. Mich. Sept. 12, 2016) Paragraph 1 of the injunction prohibits the use of marks beginning with “J-,” except pursuant to a fair use. Watermark argues that…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 2 (Copyright & Open Access)
Copyright * Goldstein v. Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc., 2016 WL 4257457 (D. Md. Aug. 11, 2016) Unlike in Costar, Goldstein alleges that the Metro Photograph, on its face, contained a watermark indicating that it was copyrighted, which would support…
More Evidence Why Keyword Advertising Litigation Is Waning
A venerable and classic Internet Law question: when a consumer uses a trademark as a search term, what are they looking for? If they are seeking the trademark owner–and only the trademark owner–then competitive keyword advertisers may encroach on the…
Police Department’s Social Media Policy Is Unconstitutional–Liverman v. Petersburg
The City of Petersburg’s police department adopted a social media policy for police officers that included the following restrictions: Negative comments on the internal operations of the Bureau, or specific conduct of supervisors or peers that impacts the public’s perception…