NYT on College Rebrandings
The NY Times runs an interesting article about colleges rebranding themselves–which, in some cases, has dramatically improved their applicant metrics or other success metrics. For example, Arcadia University (formerly Beaver College–good choice to change the name!) doubled its applications. And…
Can Congress Provide Copyright Protection to Software?
Aharonian v. Gonzales, No. 04-05190-MHP (N.D. Ca.). This case got some press when it was first filed. The plaintiff’s basic contention is that it is unconstitutional for Congress to provide copyright protection for software. This is a pretty wacky claim,…
Algorithm for Analyzing Liability for Contributing to Copyright Infringement
By John Ottaviani Professor David Post has an interesting article (free subscription required) in the August 3, 2005 issue of the National Law Journal, in which he reviews the “Sony doctrine” of secondary liability for copyright infringement. In Sony, the…
Google Sued (Again!) for Overcharging Advertisers
CLRB Hanson Industries LLC v. Google, Inc., Case No. 1-05-CV-046409 (Cal. Superior Ct. complaint filed August 3, 2005). Advertisers, including radio personality Howard Stern, have filed a new class-action lawsuit against Google for overcharging in AdWords. This represents the third…
GEICO v. Google Opinion (Finally) Issued
Government Employees Insurance Co. v. Google, Inc., No. 1:04cv507 (E.D. Va. Aug. 8, 2005). Overview On December 15, 2004, Judge Brinkema made an oral ruling in this case and promised to produce a written opinion in “a brief amount of…
Search Tidbits from ABA Annual Meeting
At the ABA Annual Meeting, I was on a panel with Rose Hagan of Google and Allison McDade of Dell. A couple of tidbits from the presentations that caught my attention: 1) Rose said that Google has now been sued…
Implications of Grokster Presentation
By John Ottaviani Here are the slides from a presentation I gave Saturday on the “Implications of Grokster” at the American Bar Association meeting in Chicago. The more interesting part of the presentation is toward the end, discussing “what we…
How Would You Advertise a Strip Club?
The Century Lounge is a strip club located on Century Boulevard in LA right at the 405 freeway. Historically, it has advertised itself with a sign that says “Live Nude Nude Nudes” in earth toned psychedelia letters. Just about everyone…
Keyword Disputes Presentation
Tomorrow I’m speaking at the ABA Annual Meeting about trademark law and keyword disputes. I’ve prepared slides discussing the latest state of the law regarding keyword-triggering of ads by both search engines and adware.
First Camcordering Arrest
As part of its Operation Copycat (a sub-action of Operation Site Down), the DOJ announced the arrest of Curtis Salisbury for two counts of camcordering movies in theaters (“The Perfect Man” on June 21, 2005, and “Bewitched” on June 28,…