Adpocalypse LawsuitGoBoom–ZombieGoBoom v. YouTube
In 2017, YouTube reconfigured its ad delivery algorithm to screen out videos that it thought advertisers disfavored. The resulting turmoil was popularly called the “Adpocalypse” because it dried up revenues for many YouTube channels. This includes the operator of the Zombiegoboom…
D.C. Circuit Makes Geoblocking De Facto Mandatory for Copyright Law Purposes–Spanski v. TV Polska (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble On March 2, 2018, two events occurred that will affect the future of the use of geoblocking: The Official Journal of the European Union published the new EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation, and coincidentally on the same day,…
The European Union Anti-Geoblocking Regulation Isn’t the End of the Anti-Geoblocking Battle (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Marketa Trimble The EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation has finally been published. After the Council of the European Union adopted the EU Anti-Geoblocking Regulation on February 27, 2018 (the European Parliament had adopted it earlier in the month), the Regulation…
Video News Aggregator Loses Fair Use Defense–Fox v. TVEyes
TVEyes aggregates video newsclips, makes them searchable, and lets subscribers watch responsive clips. One use case is for companies’ communications departments. They can set up searches for their brands in TVEyes’ database and monitor what’s being said about them. To…
In-Line Linking May Be Copyright Infringement–Goldman v. Breitbart News
Ugh, this decision is bad. How bad is it? It makes me sympathetic to Breitbart, and I didn’t even know that was possible. You may want a box of tissues nearby before reading this. The TL;DR: for over a decade, in-line linking has been treated…
Plaintiff’s Location-Based Privacy Claim Against BART Reporting App Fails
In Moreno v. S.F. Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the plaintiff sued BART and Elerts Corporation for allegedly violating several California privacy statutes and infringing plaintiff’s common law and constitutional privacy rights. The court rejects the claims. BART, in cooperation…
Search Engines Aren’t Liable for Indexing ‘Scam’ Locksmith Listings–Baldino’s Lock v. Google
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] The plaintiff in this case, Baldino’s Lock & Key, brought a very similar lawsuit in 2014. It alleged that Google indexed scam locksmiths and allowed them…
Airbnb Gets Crucial Section 230 Win Over Unauthorized Subleases–La Park La Brea v. Airbnb
[It’s impossible to blog about Section 230 without reminding you that it remains highly imperiled.] Many of Airbnb’s short-term rental listings are illegal. For example, some listings violate local ordinances regulating short-term rentals. Also, apropos to this case, some listings constitute…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Tracking Logged-Out Users–In re Facebook Internet Tracking
Facebook allegedly improperly tracked the activity of logged-out Facebook users on third party websites. Plaintiffs asserted claims based on common law rights and based on federal and state statutes, but the court previously rejected those. In the latest ruling, the court…
Interesting Tidbits From FTC’s Antitrust Win Against 1-800 Contacts’ Keyword Ad Restrictions
Over the course of about a decade starting in 2004, 1-800 Contacts entered into over a dozen settlement agreements with competitors, most of which mutually restricted both parties from buying keyword ads triggered to their competitor’s trademarks and sometimes requiring…