2023 Emoji Law Year-in-Review
…case. * I did a Q&A on emoji law. * The Free Law Project now allows caselaw searches by Unicode emoji!!! They even call it the “Eric Goldman feature.” 😍😍😍…
N.D. Cal. Judge Pushes Back on Copyright SAD Scheme Cases–Viral DRM v. YouTube Schedule A Defendants
…DRM’s works from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter; (2) removing Viral DRM’s copyright management information from Plaintiff’s videos; and (3) uploading infringing works to YouTube These kinds of generic arguments…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Claiming It “Discriminated” Against Muslim & Palestinian Content–Elansari v. Facebook
I previously described this pro se lawsuit: “Elansari is Muslim. In this lawsuit, he claims that Facebook blocks pro-Palestinian publishers and favors pro-Israeli publishers. Thus, he argues, Jewish readers are…
2023 Internet Law Year-in-Review
My roundup of the top Internet Law developments of 2023: 10) California court bans targeted advertising (?). Regulators have sought to suppress online targeted advertising for years, with only minimal…
Cloned-and-Revised Legal Documents Aren’t Copyrightable–UIRC v. William Blair
This case revisits the venerable topic of if, and when, cloning-and-revising a legal document can be copyright infringement. The plaintiff gets an expensive lesson in the law of derivative works….
2023 Quick Links: Social Media
Facebook * Meta Platforms, Inc. v. District of Columbia, 2023 WL 5964764 (D.C. Ct. App. Sept. 14, 2023). This is the latest ruling in an investigation by DC Attorney General…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Its January 6 Explanation–Mahoney v. Meta
The court summarizes the allegations: Plaintiff Genevieve Mahoney is a college student at Furman University who has an Instagram account with the username @genmahoney19. Mahoney attended what she describes as…
2023 Quick Links: Censorship
Age Authentication * Axios: “Tech platforms struggle to verify their users’ age.” The article didn’t mention that mandatory online age authentication is also unconstitutional. * Guardian: Australia will not force…
Web Page Framing Isn’t Trespass to Chattels–Best Carpet Values v. Google
…a C. By using an overly general descriptor, the analysis can sidestep key (and legally significant) technical distinctions. In this situation, the generic noun “website” collapses several different elements: the…
Ninth Circuit Confusion About Moderators and Section 230–Quinteros v. Innogames
I previously blogged this case in 2022. I summarized: This lawsuit involves the freemium videogame “Forge of Empires.” The plaintiff, Penny Quinteros (a/k/a TwoCents), claims she became addicted to the…