Too Many Courts Are Letting States Take Wrecking Balls to the Internet (Roundup)
‘Tis the season for Internet censorship. 🎄 More accurately, Internet censorship is now a four-season sport in state legislatures. There is not a stereotypical red state/blue state divide. Instead, the “divide” is between pro-censorship and anti-censorship legislators. You can count…
Google Can Assert a DMCA 512(d) Defense–Cengage v. Google (Catch-Up Post)
Textbook publishers are suing Google for its alleged role in facilitating what they consider to be mass piracy. In June 2025, the court partially denied Google’s motion to dismiss. Still remaining in the case are the plaintiffs’ contributory copyright infringement…
District Court Again Rejects Plaintiffs’ Attempts to Manufacture Common Law Notice-and-Takedown Duties–Bogard v. TikTok
This is a quirky lawsuit designed to subvert Section 230, the First Amendment, and traditional common law. I previously summarized the case: This lawsuit purports to focuses on the allegedly defective operation of the services’ reporting tools, but the plaintiffs’…
Courts Enjoin Internet Censorship Laws in Louisana and Arkansas
[I have a mondo draft roundup blog post, coming soon, covering a lot of segregate-and-suppress rulings. For now, I’ve prioritized coverage of these two rulings due to their importance. I’ll discuss the Louisiana law first, then the Arkansas law. Warning:…
OnlyFans Defeats “Chatter Scam” Claim–N.Z. v. Fenix
The court summarizes the plaintiffs’ “chatter scam” contentions: Plaintiffs allege that Fenix Defendants, in cooperation with the Agency Defendants, operate a fraudulent scheme whereby Fenix Defendants charge OnlyFans subscribers to communicate directly with creators, purport to connect subscribers with creators,…
Extortion Claims Against Ripoff Report Can Proceed–Selker v. Xcentric
My prior blog post on this case summarized: I’ve blogged many Ripoff Report cases over the years, but it’s been a while since my last one (looks like 2018?). In this case, the plaintiff alleges that someone posted a false attack…
YouTuber Loses Account Suspension Case Again–Hall v. YouTube
This is a futile account termination/content removal case, like dozens before it. Prior blog post. So I’m blogging this ruling for completion, not significance. After the prior dismissal, the YouTuber filed an amended complaint: The FAC complains that YouTube engaged…
Addiction Lawsuit Against TikTok Can Proceed in Nevada–TikTok v. Nevada District Court
All eyes are on the social media addiction class action lawsuits in California federal and state courts, where the plaintiffs are getting close to conducting trials that pose existential implications for many of the major social media services. Meanwhile, in…
Another Facebook Account Termination, Another Failed Lawsuit–Karam v. Meta
This is a pro se case. The court summarizes: “Meta purportedly banned or restricted [Karam’s] Facebook account, which allegedly prevented him from advertising his business or from engaging with potential customers through Marketplace or Facebook’s Buy/Sell Groups.” The court dismisses…
Copyright Claims Over Content Syndication Sniping Can Proceed–Next Impulse v. NewsBreak
Comeback Media operates several media properties, including a sports site named “Next Impulse.” It publishes new articles and syndicates them to other websites, including Newsbreak. The syndication was a “non-contractual relationship” that generated $250k/month. [What is a “non-contractual relationship”? Sounds…