Google Books Defeats Copyright Lawsuit Using 512(c)–Avdeef v. Google
The wheels of justice move slowly. To wit, the main Authors Guild vs. Google Books litigation has been percolating in the courts for almost a decade (September 20 is the 10 year anniversary–how do you plan to celebrate?!). Despite the…
Gmail Terms of Service Apply to reCAPTCHA During Account Formation–Rojas-Lozano v. Google
This lawsuit against Google alleges that Google unfairly benefits from deploying a CAPTCHA process when users sign up for free gmail accounts. Specifically, the complaint alleged that Google unnecessarily included a second image in the CAPTCHA, and it relies on users…
Jawbone Plaintiff Can Invoke California Choice of Law Provision in Service Agreement
This is a lawsuit against Jawbone, a fitness tracker app, alleging that Jawbone’s battery life was significantly shorter than promised, and that it failed to accurately track and measure movement, calorie expenditure, and sleep: [plaintiff] appeared inactive when he had…
Second Circuit Enforces Terms Hyperlinked In Confirmation Email–Starkey v. G Adventures
Plaintiff Starkey booked a trip online through G Adventures. She alleges a G Adventures employee assaulted her during the trip. She sued G Adventures in the Southern District of New York. That court dismissed her lawsuit based on a forum…
AARP Defeats Lawsuit for Sharing Information With Facebook and Adobe
Plaintiff sued AARP alleging that AARP violated its privacy policy (link to policy effective April 2015) by allowing Adobe and Facebook to collect PII about plaintiff. The court says there’s not a sufficient allegation of violation of AARP’s privacy policy…
If You’re Going To Incorporate Online T&Cs Into a Printed Contract, Do It Right–Holdbrook v. PCS
The plaintiff runs a pediatric dentistry. It retained defendant PCS to provide cloud services. The dentistry alleges that PCS subsequently locked it out of the cloud services improperly. The dentistry sued PCS for the lockout, and PCS sought to arbitrate…
Clickthrough Agreement Upheld–Whitt v. Prosper
I’m way behind in blogging clickthrough agreement cases, but I’m prioritizing this opinion because of its simplicity. Whitt, who is deaf, sought a loan via a “peer-to-peer lending service” called Prosper. To confirm his identity, Whitt needed to make a…
Section 230(c)(2) Gets No Luv From the Courts–Song Fi v. Google
This is one of several pending cases where a video poster sues YouTube for allegedly wrongful takedown of the video. I find these cases fascinating because I always wonder how there’s enough money at issue to justify litigation. Unfortunately, I…
California’s Resale Royalty Statute Violates the Dormant Commerce Clause—In Part (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Tyler Ochoa On Tuesday, May 5, an eleven-judge en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit held that California’s Resale Royalty Statute, Civil Code § 986, could not Constitutionally be applied to sales of works of art that…
Q4 2014 & Q1 2015 Quick Links Part 4 (Potpourri)
Commerce * NAD tells CheapoAir that it can’t run keyword ads showing the lowest priced flight in its database if it can’t deliver that fare to the consumer. * United Airlines sues 22-year-old who found a method for buying cheaper…