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…
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…
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…
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…
First Sale Doctrine Doesn’t Allow Resale of Digital Songs – Capitol Records v. ReDigi
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc., 2013 WL 1286134 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2013) [There has been a recent whirlwind of copyright activity in the courts. We will try to get caught up…
Product Review Website Defeats Trademark Claims–Boarding School Review v. Delta Career Education
By Eric Goldman Boarding School Review, LLC v. Delta Career Education Corp., 1:11-cv-08921-DAB (SDNY March 29, 2013) This case involves Community College Review, with the tagline “find the right community college for you.” It publishes information about various community colleges…
The Supreme Court’s Kirtsaeng Ruling Is Good News for Consumers, but the First Sale Doctrine Is Still Doomed–Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, No. 11–697 (U.S. Supreme Court March 19, 2013). Prior blog post of the Second Circuit ruling in the case. In Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons ($JW-A), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled…
Griping Blogger Protected by Fair Use But Not Section 230–Ascend Health v. Wells
By Eric Goldman Ascend Health Corp. v. Wells, 2013 WL 1010589 (E.D.N.C. March 14, 2013) Brenda Wells gripes about University Behavioral Health of Denton (“UBH”) at two blogs, which she promotes via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. UBH and related parties…
Before Graduated Response, There Was BSA’s “Define the Line” Program. What Happened to It? (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Sruli Yellin [Eric’s introduction: with the imminent launch of the six strikes/graduated response program from the deceptively named Center for Copyright Information, I thought it might be worthwhile revisiting a prior effort by rightsowners to coopt Internet…