Record Album Only Supports One Statutory Damages Award–Bryant v. Media Right
By Eric Goldman Bryant v. Media Right Productions, Inc., 09-2600-cv (2d Cir. April 27, 2010). My previous blog post on this case under the name Bryant v. Europadisk. Wow, talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The plaintiffs…
Amazon Wins Keyword Advertising Suit–Video Professor v. Amazon
By Eric Goldman Video Professor, Inc. v . Amazon.com, Inc., 1:09-cv-00636-REB-KLM (D. Colo. April 21, 2010) Video Professor has been involved in a few interesting legal scrapes. For example, you may recall that in 2007 they launched a major crackdown…
Beverly Stayart Strikes Again! This Time, Stayart Sues Google
By Eric Goldman Stayart v. Google, Inc., 2:10-cv-00336-LA (E.D. Wis. complaint filed April 20, 2010) I’ve previously blogged about Beverly Stayart (a/k/a Bev Stayart) and her mockable lawsuit against Yahoo. She has repeatedly declared that she is the only Beverly…
FTC Drops Investigation of Advertiser Who Gave Gifts to Bloggers
By Eric Goldman Although the FTC’s revised Endorsements and Testimonials Guidelines were inscrutable overall, a few things were, in fact, clear from the FTC’s announcements: 1) The FTC believes shill blogging is out of control 2) They blame advertisers for…
Upcoming Talks Spring 2010
By Eric Goldman I’ve added some new talks to my schedule recently, so here’s an updated list of my talks for the next couple of months: May 6, 8-10 am: Obstacles and Opportunities: eCommerce on Both Sides of the Atlantic,…
Online Publishers, Advertising and Privacy Considerations
By Eric Goldman I recently spoke at OMMA Global on a panel entitled “Can Publishers Take Ownership of Privacy?” This panel focused on the role of online publishers in the marketing-and-privacy discussions. Most of the privacy angst has focused on…
FTC Endorsement and Testimonials Guidelines Notes from SMX West
By Eric Goldman Last month, I spoke at SMX West about the FTC Endorsement and Testimonial Guidelines. My talk notes: Beatles fans routinely parsed the meaning of John Lennon’s lyrics, which irritated him. When Lennon released “I am the Walrus,”…
Google Sued for Publishing Home Address–Harris v. Google
By Eric Goldman Harris v. Google, Inc., 1:10-cv-21119-AJ (complaint removed to S.D. Fla. April 8, 2010). The original complaint filed in state court. Google’s removal to federal court. Jonathon Harris sells rare coins. His business office is in Stuart, Florida,…
Google Successfully Transfers Another AdWords Case to California–Parts Geek v. US Auto Parts
By Eric Goldman Parts Geek, LLC v. U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc., 2010 WL 1381005 (D.N.J. April 1, 2010) Google has successfully transferred another trademark lawsuit over AdWords to its home court in California based on the mandatory venue clause…
Veoh Denied Attorneys’ Fees in UMG v. Veoh. Does FRCP 68 Apply to Copyright Cases?
By Eric Goldman UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks Inc., 2010 WL 1407316 (C.D. Cal. April 6, 2010) Copyright law contains a statutory fee-shifting/”loser pays” provision (17 USC 505) that, in specified circumstances, gives the judge discretion to award attorneys’…