Does Possession of Memes Show Criminal Intent?–People v. Watts
…series of five photos depicting two men arguing [Eric’s comment: the iconic American Choppers meme], with the accompanying text: “[MAN 1]: Why did you have sex with her? [MAN 2]:…
Section 230 Protects a User Sharing an Allegedly Defamatory Facebook Event–AH v. Labana
This case involves St. Francis High School, a Catholic high school in Mountain View located just a few steps away from my home. In the wake of George Floyd’s death…
Got a Selfie With a Celebrity? Think Twice Before Using It In Ads–50 Cent v. Kogan
This is yet another blog post about 50 Cent a/k/a Curtis Jackson. This time, he “happened to be in the proximity” of the defendant’s cosmetic surgery clinic. Doing what, exactly?…
Another Copyright Owner Learns Why It’s Better to Send DMCA Takedown Notices Before Suing–BMG v. Likee
Likee is a TikTok-like app that allows users to publish short videos, often set to music. Without sending DMCA takedown notices, BMG sued it for direct and contributory copyright infringement….
Constituent Blocking on Twitter Is Censorship–Felts v. Vollmer
It’s a simple question: can a government official block a constituent on social media? Based on the Knight First Amendment v. Trump ruling in the Second Circuit, it looked like…
Messaging App Isn’t Liable for an Offline Murder (Even Without Section 230)–Roland v. Letgo
This is a tragic case involving the marketplace app Letgo. Using an alias, Brown listed a stolen car for sale on the app. The Rolands agreed to meet Brown in…
9th Circuit Unceremoniously Dismisses Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google–Dreamstime v. Google
I previously summarized this case: Dreamstime sells stock photos. It had favorable organic indexing that made it some money, and it bought Adwords advertising that made it more money. Dreamstime…
Hello, You’ve Been Referred Here Because You’re Wrong About Web Scraping Laws (Guest Blog Post, Part 2 of 2)
by Kieran McCarthy [Eric’s note: this is the second of a two-part series on the denouement of the hiQ v. LnkedIn case, which ended this week with a total loss…
Prager’s Lawsuit Over Biased Content Moderation Decisively Fails Again (This Time, in State Court)–Prager v. YouTube
…more significant First Amendment concern than defendants’ restrictions…. [cites to NetChoice v. FLA] Even assuming Prager were capable of amending its complaint to narrow its generic claims of “Protected Identity”…
As Everyone Expected Years Ago, hiQ’s CFAA Wins Don’t Mean It Can Freely Scrape–hiQ v. LinkedIn (Guest Blog Post, Part 1 of 2)
by Kieran McCarthy [Eric’s note: this is the first of a two-part series on the denouement of the hiQ v. LinkedIn case. This part explains the most recent ruling, a…