Print-on-Demand Services Face More Legal Woes–Canvasfish v. Pixels
In the ongoing legal battles over print-on-demand services, RedBubble and (more recently) Printify have sometimes achieved favorable results by disaggregating all of the functions and acting solely as a marketing agent for the disaggregated vendors. These defense-favorable outcomes may work…
Judge Reconsiders SAD Scheme Ruling Against Online Marketplaces–Squishmallows v. Alibaba
You may have heard about Squishmallow’s recent lawsuit against Build-a-Bear over plushy knockoffs. While that’s interesting, I’m focused on Squishmallow’s abuse of the SAD Scheme. I previously blogged about one such case, where Squishmallow sued 90 e-commerce merchants in a…
Ninth Circuit Enforces a “Browsewrap” (That Was Actually a Clickthrough)–Patrick v. Running Warehouse
This is a data breach case. Several e-commerce sites were hit, first by hackers and then by plaintiffs’ lawyers. The sites invoked their TOSes to send the data breach cases to arbitration. The Ninth Circuit agrees. The Ninth Circuit opinion…
Boat Rental Marketplace Defeats Lawsuit Over Offline Boating Accident–In re Chaves
A rare case analyzing Section 230’s intersection with admiralty law. 🚢 The case involves GetMyBoat, an online marketplace for boat rentals. Listings are free, but GetMyBoat takes a cut of any booked transactions. A young woman, Lindsey Faith Partridge, used…
Online Marketplace Defeats Lawsuit Over Murder–Roland v. Letgo
I previously summarized this case: This is a tragic case involving the marketplace app Letgo. Using an alias, Brown listed a stolen car for sale on the app. The Rolands agreed to meet Brown in person to buy the car….
Two More Cases Compel Arbitration for Dubious Online Contracts (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Kieran McCarthy The intersection of the Federal Arbitration Act and the law of online contracts has become utterly corrosive to our legal system. Many people think this is true. But not enough lawyers say it often enough….
Internal Search Results Aren’t Trademark Infringing–PEM v. Peninsula
This is a case involving a trademark owner and a competitive keyword advertiser. The trademark owner memorably (and ridiculously) characterized the rival as engaging in “keyword conquesting,” a term I encourage you never to use. The court already sent that…
Why Online Marketplaces Don’t Do More to Combat the SAD Scheme–Squishmallows v. Alibaba
This appears to be a SAD Scheme case involving Squishmallows, a stuffed animals brand. The brand owner, Kelly Toys, sued 90 e-commerce merchants in a sealed complaint and got a TRO. For unclear reasons, Kelly Toys expanded the litigation to…
2023 Quick Links: Section 230
[My Quick Links publication process is broken. Once-a-year postings aren’t very useful LOL.] * Palmer v. Savoy, 2021 N.C. Super. LEXIS 236 (N.C. Superior Ct. July 28, 2021). Snap qualified for Section 230 protection despite the plaintiffs’ invocation of the Lemmon design…
SAD Scheme Cases Are Always Troubling–Betty’s Best v. Schedule A Defendants 😠
Every SAD Scheme lawsuit is problematic, though the specific reasons may differ. Each lawsuit creates dozens or hundreds of individual dramas, few of which receive any public scrutiny, and usually comes at the cost of due process and the rule…