My New Article Drops a Truth Bomb on Zauderer and Censorial Efforts to Mandate Editorial Transparency
The battle over online free speech has drifted away from direct Section 230 reform and towards a variety of other regulatory ideas that would instead undermine Section 230’s core principles….
Memes as Judicial Opinions–Courthouse News Service v. Forman
This opinion came out in June, but I just learned about it. In this opinion, a federal judge incorporated a meme into the opinion’s narrative to emphasize a rhetorical point…
If the Word “Emoji” is a Protectable Trademark, What Happens Next?–Emoji GmbH v. Schedule A Defendants
…means the term “emoji” is generic with respect to the dictionary definitions and Emojico’s litigation empire should crumble. The trademark registrations discourage that outcome. Otherwise, “emoji” is at most descriptive…
Facebook’s Website Isn’t Governed by the ADA–Lloyd v. Facebook
This is a standard kitchen-sink pro se lawsuit against Facebook, but it touches a couple of key blog themes that makes it worth covering. Americans With Disabilities Act Lloyd claims…
More Evidence that FOSTA Benefited No One
This is another empirical study into FOSTA’s effects. At the Stanford Trust & Safety conference, I heard a presentation of this paper: Helen Shuxuan Zeng, Brett Danaher, & Michael D….
A Million-Dollar Thumbs-Up Emoji?–Lightstone v. Zinntex
This is a pandemic case. The buyer ordered $2.1M of personal protective equipment (PPE) from the seller in April 2020 and wired the money. The seller subsequently didn’t deliver, and…
Section 230 Applies to Sellers’ Listings on Auto Auction Service–Cohen v. Copart
Copart runs an auto auction website that includes “repairable” cars, i.e., junkers. The plaintiff sued for three alleged misrepresentations, including: On vehicle pages, Copart displays an Estimated Retail Value for…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Its Fact-Checking Explanations–Stossel v. Meta
John Stossel has over a million Facebook followers. He posted two videos that triggered fact-checking responses from Facebook. The first video, “Government Fueled Fires,” downplayed the impact of climate change…
First Amendment Protects Videogame’s Depiction of Tractor’s Trade Dress–Saber v. Oovee
This case involves the Polish tractor manufacturer Kirovets’ K-700 tractor: Saber makes the videogame MudRunner. It exclusively licensed the right to depict the K-700 in its videogames, including the right…