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’…
Facebook Preliminarily Wins Copyright Lawsuit over Third Party App–Miller v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman Miller v. Facebook, Inc., 2010 WL 1292708 (N.D. Cal. March 31, 2010) Miller developed a videogame called Boomshine. He is upset that Yeo made an allegedly infringing knockoff variation of the game, called ChainRxn, and distributed the…
230 Protects Newspaper from Liability for Reader Comments–Collins v. Purdue
By Eric Goldman Collins v. Purdue University, 2010 WL 1250916 (N.D. Ind. March 24, 2010) The plaintiff, Timothy J. Collins, III, is a Purdue student. The defendant in this ruling is Federated Publications, which publishes a Lafayette, Indiana daily newspaper,…
eBay Mostly Beats Tiffany in the Second Circuit, but False Advertising Claims Remanded
By Eric Goldman Tiffany (NJ) Inc. v. eBay Inc., 2010 WL 1236315 (2d Cir. April 1, 2010) In a subtle opinion with potentially significant implications, eBay has preserved most of its big 2008 district court victory in the long-running Tiffany…
Unregulating Online Harassment Essay
By Eric Goldman I posted a very short essay to SSRN called Unregulating Online Harassment. This essay recaps and expands some of my remarks from the Denver University “Cyber Civil Rights” Symposium last November. I previously posted a lengthy recap…
YouTube Uploader Can’t Sue Sender of Mistaken Takedown Notice–Cabell v. Zimmerman
By Eric Goldman Cabell v. Zimmerman, 2010 WL 996007 (S.D.N.Y. Mar 12, 2010) A few other folks have written about this case already, but it’s worth noting a couple of points. Cabell posted a video, Pretty Faces, to YouTube. Actors’…
Google Gets Favorable ECJ Opinion, But Will It Prove to Be a Hollow Victory?
By Eric Goldman The European Court of Justice issued its long-anticipated decision in the three Google AdWords cases (C-236/08, C-237-08 and C-238/08) referred to it by the French Cour de Cassation. The ruling only answers the questions posed to it…
Search Engine Legal Developments to Watch in 2010
By Eric Goldman I recently spoke on a panel about search engines and the law at SMX West. I previewed four major trends in search engine law to watch in 2010: 1) Competition issues. Antitrust/competition law has become a big…