Assessing Winners and Losers in Google’s Worldwide Antitrust Battles (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Recently, the European Commission announced details of a proposed antitrust settlement with Google (the full commitments). Google’s competitors now have the opportunity to publicly whine about the deal as part of the “market testing” procedural step. I doubt…
More Evidence That Congress Misaligned the DMCA Online Copyright Safe Harbors–UMG v. Grooveshark (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Escape Media Group, Inc., 2013 WL 1729431 (N.Y. App. Div. April 23, 2013) Grooveshark runs a user-generated content (UGC) website that allows users to upload sound recordings and other users to stream those…
Differences Between Consumer Surveys for Trademark Cases and False Advertising Cases
By Eric Goldman In February, I spoke about the differences between consumer surveys in trademark cases compared with false advertising cases. My talk notes: Overall, the similarities between consumer survey in the two types of cases outweigh the differences. So…
You Shouldn’t Need a Copyright Lawyer to Pick a Dentist–Lee v. Makhnevich (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In October 2010, Robert Lee needed a dentist, pronto. He didn’t realize he needed a copyright lawyer to help him pick a dentist. In search of urgent pain relief, Lee contacted Dr. Stacy Makhnevich (a preferred provider…
Talk Slides on Section 230, Anti-SLAPP Laws and Housing Anti-Discrimination
By Eric Goldman On Friday I presented at the California State Bar’s Fifth Annual Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Symposium. My topic was to discuss how Roommates.com, Section 230 and anti-SLAPP laws restrict the ability of housing anti-discrimination to sue…
Viacom Loses Again–Viacom v. YouTube
By Eric Goldman Viacom International Inc. v. YouTube Inc., 2013 WL 1689071 (S.D.N.Y April 18, 2013) Persistence is a virtue, but stubbornness is a sin. I’m pretty sure Viacom has sinned a lot in its six years of litigation against…
Cynthia Moreno Guest Lecture to My Internet Law Course
By Eric Goldman Internet Law is blessed with some fantastic teaching cases, including the modern classic, Moreno v. Hanford Sentinel. Read the Ode to Coalinga that started it all. Cynthia works in Sacramento–about 2 hours from SCU–so in November 2012…
Why You’ll Soon Be Paying Sales Taxes on All of Your Internet Purchases–Amazon v. NY Taxation Department (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In the 1992 case Quill v. North Dakota, the U.S. Supreme Court said an out-of-state retailer can’t be obligated to collect sales taxes from buyers in states where the retailer lacks a physical presence. In those situations,…
Designing Optimal Immunities and Safe Harbors (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman [Note: this is one of those posts that languished in the queue for a few years. Depending on your response, I may decide to turn it into a lengthier academic paper. Please send me your thoughts!] You…
Another 512(f) Claim Fails–Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran
By Eric Goldman Tuteur v. Crosley-Corcoran, 2013 WL 1450930 (D. Mass. April 10, 2013). The complaint (page 5 shows the photo in question). We don’t see that many 17 USC 512(f) lawsuits over bogus copyright takedown noties, and we see…