Franchisor Really, Really Unhappy With Franchisee’s Co-Promotion With a Topless Bar–Capriotti’s v Taylor
By Eric Goldman Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, Inc. v. Taylor Family Holdings, Inc., 2012 WL 1448514 (D. Del. April 25, 2012). The complaint and exhibits A-D, E-H and I-O. Some background. Capriotti’s is a franchised fast-food sandwich chain, with its signature…
Comments on the Ninth Circuit’s En Banc Ruling in U.S. v. Nosal
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] US v. Nosal, 2012 WL 1176119 (9th Cir. Apr. 10, 2012) Nosal was a Korn/Ferry employee who, after his departure, convinced some remaining employees to provide him with confidential information to help…
Misuse of Family Photograph by Photo Studio Supports Misappropriation Claim–Lee v. Picture People
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Lee v. The Picture People, Inc., K10C-07-002 (RBY) (Del. Sup. Ct.; Mar. 19, 2012) Plaintiffs had their two year old’s picture taken at The Picture People, a store engaged in the business of family photography. At…
SuperPoke! Pets Virtual Gold Dispute Worth Over $5 Million–Abreu v. Slide
By Eric Goldman Abreu v. Slide, Inc., 2012 WL 1123367 (N.D. Cal. April 3, 2012). The Justia page. Google bought Slide, which operated the SuperPoke! Pets online game. Wikipedia has some of the game’s history. As part of the gameplay,…
Facebook Beats Class Certification in Click Fraud Case
By Eric Goldman In re Facebook, Inc., PPC Advertising Litigation, 2012 WL 1253182 (N.D.Cal. April 13, 2012) I don’t know what I like less: click fraud, or bogus lawsuits over click fraud. This three-year-old case (see my initial blog post…
Terminating an NFL Player’s Endorsement Agreement for Polemic Tweets May Be Contract Breach–Mendenhall v. Hanes
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Mendenhall v. Hanesbrands, 2012 WL 1230743 (M.D.N.C.; Apr. 12, 2012) This case has it all: Twitter, a pro football player, terrorism, Osama bin Laden and contract law geekiness! Background: Rashard Mendenhall plays…
Lawsuit From Huffington Post Unpaid Contributors Gets the Boot – Tasini v. AOL
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Tasini v. AOL, Inc., 11-CV-2472 (JGK) (S.D.N.Y.; Mar. 30, 2012) I thought the Huffington Post lawsuit brought by unpaid contributors would present some interesting discussion about the arcane laws governing unpaid internships, but that’s not the…
Parents’ Lawsuit Against Apple for In-App Purchases by Minor Children Moves Forward — In re Apple In-App Purchase Litigation
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Apple In-App Purchase Litigation, 5:11-CV-1758 (N.D. Cal.; Mar. 31, 2012) Facebook recently dealt with a class action over sponsored stories where minors asserted violations of their publicity rights. The court enforced the Facebook terms…
Actress Suing IMDB Can Assert Claim Based on Privacy Policy – Hoang v. Amazon.com, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Hoang v. Amazon.com, Inc. & IMDB.com, Inc., C11-1709MJP (W.D. Wash.; Mar. 30, 2012) Hoang sued IMDB, alleging that IMDB took information she provided when she paid for her subscription and used this information to derive her…
Courts Struggling Needlessly With Online Contracting Practices (Guest Blog Post)
By John Ottaviani Fteja v. Facebook, Inc., No. 11 Civ 918(RJH), 2012 WL 183896 (S.D.N.Y. Jan 24, 2012) Jerez v. JD Closeouts, LLC, No. CV-024727-11, 2012 WL 934390 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. March 20, 2012) For over a decade, I have…