Google Gets Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Privacy Policy Integration–In re Google Privacy Policy
This is another potentially important but head-scratching Northern District of California ruling in an Internet privacy lawsuit. This lawsuit involves Google’s integration of its various product-specific databases of user information into one giant across-Google Database of Ruin. It was inevitable…
Privacy Plaintiffs Lose Because They Didn’t Rely on Apple’s Privacy Representations — In re iPhone App Litigation
Plaintiffs sued Apple claiming they relied on privacy representations from Apple and that the iOS environment was designed to “easily” allow for transmission of user information to third parties. A separate sub-class alleged that Apple collected location information even when…
AFP & Getty’s Republication of Twitter/Twitpic-Sourced Photos Turns Out to Be Costly – AFP v. Morel
This is a long-running copyright infringement case that we’ve covered repeatedly. (My most recent post with a pre-trial recap: AFP v. Morel – Lawsuit Over Haiti Photos Taken From Twitter/Twitpic Goes to Trial.) AFP and (through AFP) Getty thought they had…
Google’s Forum-Selection Clause Upheld Again–Rudgayzer v. Google
Over the years, Google has defended its standardized agreements numerous times in court. As with its litigation portfolio generally, Google has had an excellent success rate in these cases. Recently, another court upheld Google’s member agreement–not a surprising outcome, but…
Did Monster Energy Make A ‘Dope’ Contract With DJ Z-Trip? Nope (Forbes Cross-Post)
What is the legal meaning of the word “Dope”? Monster Energy argued that the word “Dope!” granted it permission to publish copyrighted material. The court says nope. Monster Energy put together a promotional YouTube video that used a remix (the…
Fake LinkedIn Profile May Cause Trademark Infringement – Avepoint v. Axceler
Avepoint, Inc. v. Power Tools, Inc. d/b/a Axceler, 7:13CV00035 (W.D. Va. Nov. 7, 2013) Avepoint and Axceler are competitors providing “infrastructure management and governance software platforms for Microsoft Sharepoint products and technologies.” Avepoint alleged that Axceler denigrated Avepoint online. Specifically,…
AFP v. Morel – Lawsuit Over Haiti Photos Taken From Twitter/Twitpic Goes to Trial
We’ve previously covered AFP v. Morel, the case where photographer Daniel Morel is suing AFP, Getty and downstream licenses for allegedly infringing on his copyrighted material. In a nutshell, he took some iconic photos following the Haiti earthquake. AFP sourced…
Lawsuit Over Google Hangouts Gutted–Be In v. Google
Be In v. Google, 12-cv-03373-LHK (N.D. Cal. Oct. 9, 2013) Be In developed “CamUP,” described as a “social entertainment consumption platform that allows a group of friends to simultaneously watch, listen, chat and collaborate around shared videos, music, and other…
Section 230 Protects Another Newspaper From Liability For User Comments–Hupp v. Freedom Communications
Hupp v. Freedom Communications, Inc., 2013 WL 5947033 (Cal. App. Ct. Nov. 7, 2013) This is a minor case involving a pro se plaintiff and a straightforward application of the law, so normally I wouldn’t blog it. However, over the…
How California’s New ‘Do-Not-Track’ Law Will Hurt Consumers (Forbes Cross-Post)
California enacted a new law (AB 370) requiring many websites to disclose more information about how they track users. Websites that collect personal information about their users must disclose (1) how they respond to a web browser’s “do not track”…