Social Media * Collins v. Louisiana State Police, No. 13-412 (La. Ct. App. Oct. 23, 2013): a person’s online life depicted in social media is commonly not intended to reflect reality as much as it is intended to engender discourse. Therefore,…
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…
It’s been a while since I blogged a Ripoff Report case. I’m sure you’ve missed hearing about them, but their litigation docket has calmed down somewhat since their heyday. This pro se lawsuit, rehashing tired arguments that have failed repeatedly…
I sent the following email to a reporter covering the fallout from General Mills’ amended legal terms to mandate arbitration and the The New York Times’ coverage, When ‘Liking’ a Brand Online Voids the Right to Sue (and see the…
Revenge porn is odious, but so is a judge’s disregard for a federal law. In a lawsuit by revenge porn victims over the controversial revenge porn website Texxxan.com, a Texas state trial court had ruled that Texxxan’s web host, GoDaddy,…
The pro se plaintiff alleges that unknown Does defamed him. He sued Google, Yahoo and Amazon for this defamation alleging: (1) Google administered a blogger service and profile pages that contained defamatory and threatening communications; (2) Amazon created several accounts…
I’m sure you are familiar with Garcia v. Google, the copyright lawsuit against YouTube over the Innocence of Muslims video that led to a fatwa being issued against Garcia, an actress in the movie. In a truly awful opinion from…
This is a case that addresses how defamation can play out on Twitter, which is a perennial favorite of mine (perhaps owing to my excessive participation in that medium). Feld tried to buy a horse (“Munition”) that would become a…
Court Lauds Blogs “As A Means Of Free Dissemination Of News And Public Comment”–Comins v. Vanvoorhis
A number of states have “retraction” laws that require plaintiffs to demand a retraction from media defendants before suing for defamation. How these laws apply to Internet publishers arose early in the development of Internet jurisprudence. For example, in the…
Baidu.com is the leading search engine in China. The plaintiffs in this case have published materials online about the democracy movement in China. They allege that, at the request of the Chinese government, Baidu excludes pro-democracy search results, including their…