Licensing a Work, and When Licensing Doesn’t Work–Reuters v. GMU
A timely Exhibit A in the argument that contract law is being used as a back-door wedge in expanding copyright. By Ethan Ackerman Just as Bruce Boyden seriously asks, “is the case for contracts somehow expanding copyright rights vastly overstated?”…
Delayed Enforcement Blocks Domain Name Lawsuit–Southern Grouts v. 3M
By Eric Goldman Southern Grouts & Mortars, Inc. v. 3M Co., 2008 WL 4346798 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 17, 2008) I’m often baffled by lawsuits over domain names and keywords because they just don’t seem to make any economic sense. This…
Co-Website Operator Gets 47 USC 230 Defense–Best Western v. Furber
By Eric Goldman Best Western International, Inc. v. Furber, 2008 WL 4182827 (D. Ariz. Sept. 5, 2008). The CMLP page. In my Co-Blogging paper, I wrote about my uncertainty whether co-bloggers would be able to claim 47 USC 230 for…
Carterfone and Open Access in the Digital Era Symposium, October 17
By Eric Goldman On October 17, we are having a neat event at Santa Clara University. A brief word about the genesis. I don’t normally travel in telecom circles but I went to a few events in the past year…
Perfect 10 v. Google on Remand, and 230 as an Affirmative Defense
By Eric Goldman Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2008 WL 4217837 (C.D. Cal. July 16, 2008) You recall this case involving Perfect 10’s allegations that Google and Amazon (and, in a subsequent complaint, Microsoft) are infringing its rights by…
Bloggers’ Defamation Liability Not Dismissed–Saadi v. Maroun
By Eric Goldman Saadi v. Maroun, 2008 WL 4194824 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 9, 2008). One of the complaints (doesn’t everyone know that just blacking out data in a PDF doesn’t prevent people from learning the info???). The opposition to the…
Road Show Fall 2008
By Eric Goldman This post highlights some of my talks and events scheduled for this semester. As always, if I’m going to be in your area, it would be a delight to see you–let me know. October 3: Works in…
StubHub Wins 230 Dismissal in Anti-Scalping Case
By Eric Goldman Fehrs v. StubHub, Inc., #0801-00515 (Ore. Cir. Ct Sept. 9, 2008). The plaintiff’s lawyer has posted some of the litigation materials filed in this case. This is yet another lawsuit in the ongoing battle over online ticket…
DMV.org Hit With SEO-Degrading Injunction–TrafficSchool.com v. eDriver
By Eric Goldman TrafficSchool.com, Inc. v. eDriver, Inc., 2008 WL 4000805 (C.D. Cal. June 4, 2008). Permanent injunction entered Aug. 28, 2008. [Note: I missed this case when it first came out. I recently learned about the case from Rebecca,…
August 2008 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Net Neutrality * The FCC gets on Comcast’s case for deceptively blocking BitTorrent connections without disclosure. While I don’t know anyone who has defended Comcast’s behavior here, at the same time there is an undercurrent of concern…