Another Messy Employee-Employer Dispute Over Facebook Page Ownership
Courtney Austin managed the Preston County Animal Shelter. She was initially hired on an hourly basis but converted at her request to salary. Shortly after she was hired, she created a Facebook page for the shelter, and she sought and…
Q3 2014 Quick Links, Part 1 (RTBF, Reviews, IP & More)
Right to Be Forgotten * U.S. Attitudes Toward the ‘Right to Be Forgotten’: 1. Sixty-one percent of Americans believe some version of the right to be forgotten is necessary. 2. Thirty-nine percent want a European-style blanket right to be forgotten,…
Washington State Supreme Court Hears an Interesting Privacy Case: Dillon v. Seattle Deposition Reporters
This is a super interesting case that’s working its way through the courts in Washington. In a nutshell, T-Mobile was a defendant in a breach of contract lawsuit brought by NetLogix in the Western District of Washington. T-Mobile was represented…
Employer Isn’t Liable When Former Employee Linked His Apple Accounts To Its Devices–Sunbelt v. Victor
Victor worked at Sunbelt as a sales rep but left to join a competitor. His former employer is suing him for trade secret misappropriation. Victor asserted privacy-based counterclaims. Sunbelt assigned him an iPhone and an iPad. He created an Apple…
It’s Not Possible To Steal Facebook ‘Likes’–Mattocks v. BET
In 2008, Plaintiff Stacey Mattocks developed an (initially unofficial) Facebook page focusing on “The Game,” a television series initially aired on CW and later acquired by BET. In 2010, BET contacted Mattocks and hired her as a part-time worker, paying…
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….
Conviction for Posting Pages From Teenager’s Diary Via Mail and Facebook Partially Reversed
The defendant, Teri Buhl, was prosecuted under a bizarre set of facts. Buhl, a journalist, was in a relationship with P (the opinion does not identify him, but Buhl’s account of the case, linked below, does). P’s daughter kept a…
When Is It Appropriate For Teachers To Call Students “Rat-Like” or “Dunderheads” in a Pseudonymous Blog? Never.
Natalie Munroe was a teacher in Central Bucks School District. She received good reviews over the years. In 2009, she started a blog, Where are we going, and why are we in this hand basket? (last post, April 2014) She blogged as…
Stalking Conviction For Friending a Prosecutor’s Facebook Friends?–State v. Moller
Online stalking and threats are hot topics today, especially in light of the Supreme Court granting cert in US v. Elonis (we plan to recap that case before oral arguments). Today’s case highlights the grey area between veiled threats and…
Griping Blogger Can Show Photo Of Griping Target–Katz v. Chevaldina
Chelvadina griped about Raanan Katz on her blog. As is common practice for bloggers, Chelvadina included a headshot photo of Katz. The court says the photo is unflattering (I’ll let you decide). Chevaldina found the photo on an Israeli website…