Facebook’s LLaMa Defeats Copyright Claims–Kadrey v. Meta
This is another preliminary ruling in the copyright battle over generative AI. The stakes of this battle couldn’t be higher. Copyright law has the capacity to nix the entire generative…
Another Jawboning Case Fails in the 9th Circuit (But a TAFS Judge Doesn’t Like the Biden Administration)–Rogalinksi v. Meta
[I’m far behind in my blogging queue, especially with respect to the social media addiction rulings.] I previously summarized this case: Rogalinski made several posts about COVID. Facebook added “missing…
Facebook Faces Contributory Trademark Liability for Marketplace Listings–Car-Freshner v. Meta
This case involves the hanging “car freshener” (which usually smells worse than any odors it tries to mask) in the shape of a tree. The rightsowner has trademark registrations for…
YouTuber Loses Lawsuit Demanding $22/View–Ray v. Google
(As will be obvious in a moment, this is a pro se lawsuit). Ray created a YouTube account and aspired to become a YouTube Partner. He posted 50 videos that…
Apple’s App Store Can Reject Unwanted Apps–Coronavirus Reporter v. Apple
Apple rejected two of the plaintiffs’ apps, “Coronavirus Reporter” and “Bitcoin Lottery,” for its app store. Apple rejected the Coronavirus Reporter app because it wasn’t associated with a government entity…
Ninth Circuit Revives Choreography Copyright Claims Over Fortnite Emotes–Hanagami v. Epic
Hanagami is a celebrity choreographer. He has over 4.5M YouTube followers and nearly 1B video views. He posted a video entitled “CHARLIE PUTH – How Long | Kyle Hanagami Choreography”…
Some New Section 230 Memes
I gave a brand-new talk about Section 230 at the California Lawyers Association IP Institute. (It was recorded, but I believe it will be behind the CLA paywall). You can…
Section 230 Applies to Nextdoor Consumer Reviews–Duffer v. Nextdoor
The court summarizes the plaintiff’s allegations: Plaintiff alleges that in October, 2020, he received a negative review on Nextdoor from a former customer. A series of other negative reviews followed….
Section 230 Protects Gmail’s Spam Filter–RNC v. Google
[My blogging queue has gotten backlogged. I’m slowly catching up. I hope you enjoy these 2,800 words on legal topics you assumed were definitively resolved over a dozen years ago.]…
The DTSA Ex Parte Seizure Provision Was Always Bad Policy–Janssen v. Evenus
…the Yondelis manufacturer found evidence suggesting trade secret theft, so it added a DTSA claim against the generic manufacturer. The Yondelis manufacturer further became convinced that the generic manufacturer was…