eBay Isn’t Liable for Selling Recalled Merchandise–Hinton v. Amazon
Due to Section 230, eBay generally isn’t liable when its merchants sell problematic goods. I believe the earliest ruling establishing this proposition is Stoner v. eBay, a 2000 case over bootleg recordings. More recently, in 2011, a court held that…
Creditors Can’t Seize Country Code Top Level Domains
This is a ruling addressing plaintiffs’ ability to levy against a country code top level domain (TLD). Plaintiffs obtained judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Syrian Arab Republic. They sought to attach defendants’…
Venue Clause in YouTube Terms of Service Upheld–Song Fi v. Google
This is a dispute over YouTube’s takedown of a music video. Song Fi, along with Rasta Rock, Joeseph Brotherton, and his six year old son, sued YouTube for taking down their video titled “LuvYa LuvYa LuvYa.” YouTube said it removed…
Equivocal Email Exchanges Don’t Transfer Copyright Ownership
The Tjeknavorians collaborated with Mardirossian to make a film about the Armenian genocide. They never signed a paper agreement, although they had a bunch of correspondence regarding the film. Mardirossian contributed funds to the project on an ongoing basis (up…
Lawsuit Against Google Over In-App Purchases By Minors Squeaks Past Motion to Dismiss
This is a lawsuit against Google over in-app purchases made by minor children, reminiscent of a similar lawsuit against Apple. Plaintiff on behalf of a putative class alleged that, among other things, Google allowed someone to make a purchase for…
What’s a Browsewrap? The Ninth Circuit Sure Doesn’t Know–Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble
This is a lawsuit over Barnes & Noble’s alleged failure to honor its closeout advertisements for Hewlett-Packard Touchpads. (Coverage of the district court ruling here: “Barnes & Noble’s Online Contract Formation Process Fails–Nguyen v. Barnes & Noble.” Plaintiff (Nguyen) placed an…
Announcing the Second Edition of “Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials” by Tushnet & Goldman
Rebecca Tushnet and I are pleased to announce the release of Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials, second edition (2014). It’s available at Gumroad as a $11.50 DRM-free download (PDF version / epub mobile device version) and other outlets….
Fining Customers For Negative Online Reviews Isn’t New…Or Smart (Forbes Cross-Post)
Last week, we learned that a New York hotel, the Union Street Guest House, was fining guests $500 for posting negative online reviews. The story received considerable media attention because the restriction violates our social norms and is almost certainly…
‘Silk Road’ Ruling Will Hurt Online Commerce (Forbes Cross-Post)
You may have heard of Silk Road, an online marketplace that enabled hard-to-trace buying and selling of illegal goods. The court says it was “as if the purchases were occurring on eBay;” buyers and sellers could even leave feedback about…
Q2 2014 Quick Links, Part 3 (Privacy, Marketing, E-Commerce & More)
Privacy * Snapchat’s basic value proposition (“Disappearing digital photos”) has been deceptive from the beginning. The FTC busted them for it. (I saw James Grimmelmann added this to his Internet Law casebook. We’ve also added it to our Advertising Law…