Trump’s Tweet Infringed the Song “Electric Avenue”–Grant v. Trump
…the Composition, can be heard starting at the 15-second mark and continuing for the duration of the video. Scavino testified that he saw the Video on a Trump supporter’s social…
Section 230 Preempts Two More Harassment Lawsuits
…with predictable (non)results. He claims the false info ruined his career and marriage and led to other deleterious consequences. Trademark. “A defendant does not “use” a plaintiff’s mark to [infringe]…
Heightened Constitutional Scrutiny is Not Required for Content-Based Trademark Registration Laws That Are Viewpoint-Neutral—Vidal v. Elster (Guest Blog Post)
…to trademark registration and enforcement laws. For a detailed discussion of the facts of this trademark dispute, see my spring 2023 guest post on the Technology & Marketing Law Blog…
Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Sue Over Government Jawboning When Their Evidence is Based on Vibes–Murthy v. Missouri
…from civil liability for content they spread. They are vulnerable to antitrust actions; indeed, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described a potential antitrust lawsuit as an “existential” threat to his…
TIL: “Texas Tamale” Is an Enforceable Trademark–Texas Tamale v. CPUSA2
…it “possesses the legally protectable, incontestable trademarks TEXAS TAMALE and TEXAS TAMALE COMPANY.” Say what? The court said that the trademark owner had been using the trademark since 1985 and…
Why Generative AI is Doomed
…why pro-regulation advocates are likely to overshoot their mark (unless they intend to kill Generative AI outright, which may be the agenda of some). As you’ll see, I illustrated my…
Zuckerberg Avoids Personal Liability for Social Media “Addiction”–In re Social Media Addiction
…explore every possible issue and angle of liability, no matter how arcane or tangential. For example, the plaintiffs sought to hold Mark Zuckerberg individually liable for his contributions to the…
The Ninth Circuit’s Broad (and Wrong) Standards for Conversion–Taylor v. Google (Guest Blog Post)
…a bad thing. Many online legal domains blur the line between property and contract. We don’t need another. Mark Lemley observed this nearly twenty years ago, but if you allow…
Print-on-Demand Services Face More Legal Woes–Canvasfish v. Pixels
…infringing images and refer to them by the trademark DeYoung. Trademark Infringement. The court wades into the ever-fraught question of what constitutes trademark “use”: On one end are companies like…
Think You Understand Online Trespass to Chattels Law? Think Again–In re Meta Healthcare Pixels
…any other specific harm. If that’s true, this ruling will mark the end of the Internet as we know it, because every Internet packet exchange potentially causes the same “harm.”…