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….
Fictional Software Brand In ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Movie Doesn’t Infringe Real-Life Software Brand–Fortres Grand v. Warner Bros.
This case involves a key plot device, called “Clean Slate” software, from the movie Dark Knight Rises, part of the umpteenth attempt to reboot the Batman franchise. The fictional software provides an uber right-to-be-forgotten; it “enables an individual to erase…
Q2 2014 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP)
Trademark * Barton Beebe has posted a new free casebook, Trademark Law: An Open-Source Casebook. Quite possibly the new gold standard of trademark casebooks. Check it out! * Hollywood, Esq.: Chubby Checker Settles Penis Size App Lawsuit. Prior blog post. *…
Don’t Roll The Dice On Defamation Suits Against Gripe Sites, Especially In California–Ocean’s Eleven v. Anders
This case involves the now defunct website www.oceans11.info. There’s one archival version in Archive.org from 2012, though I found it confusing. The website was a gripe site created by Tim Anders (a/k/a “Dr. Hope“), a professional poker player. Anders protested…
Another Questionable IP Lawsuit Over a Derogatory Twitter Account
Uli Behringer is the the CEO of “Music Group,” a company I had not heard of prior to this lawsuit. Apparently ticked off at the antics of “@NotUliBehringer” and “@fakeuli,” Behringer and his company tried to get Twitter to take…
Q1 2014 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP)
Copyright * Perfect 10, Inc. v. Giganews, Inc., No. 11-7098 (C.D. Cal. Jan. 29, 2014). Upholding Giganews’ policy of terminating repeat infringers. The ruling also is critical of Perfect 10’s method of sending takedown notices, saying that Perfect 10 may have had…
IP Battle Between Jumpy House Manufacturers Isn’t Bounced – WhatRU Holding v. Bouncing Angels
At any moment, a product manufacturer can find itself trapped in a tangled nightmare of IP infringement claims. In WhatRU Holding, LLC v. Bouncing Angels, Inc., a district court in Minnesota found personal jurisdiction over a defendant company that sold…
Court Spoils “Banana Lady’s” Appeal Over Online Recordings of Her Act
Catherine Conrad is the “Banana Lady” (see her Facebook photos) who delivers singing birthday telegrams. I didn’t know such things still exist, but perhaps they do in the Midwest (she’s based in the Madison, Wisconsin area). For reasons the court…
Employer Who Takes Over Employee’s Social Media Accounts May Commit Privacy Violation–Maremont v Susan Fredman Design
We’ve blogged about the dispute between Maremont and Susan Fredman Design Group before. Maremont was employed as SFDG’s social media consultant, and when she was injured in a severe accident, SFDG allegedly continued to access (1) a Twitter account registered…
More Intellectual Property Trivia Questions (The Outtakes)
Recently I posted our IP trivia quiz from WIPIP. To prepare those trivia questions, my colleagues (Tyler Ochoa and Brian Love) and I made a list of potential questions and then picked our favorites. In this post, I’m sharing the…