1909 Copyright Act Conference Recap (five months late…)

By Eric Goldman [Note: I’m embarrassed to admit that it has taken me 5 months to write this recap. Normally at this late date I’d just give up, but for an event 100 years in the making, a 5 month…

Another Copyright Owner Doesn’t Like 512(c)…and Thinks an Anti-Copying Filter is Copyright Infringing–Scott v. Scribd

By Eric Goldman Scott v. Scribd, Inc., 4:09-cv-03039 (S.D. Tex. complaint filed Sept. 18, 2009) (linked to a copy of the complaint hosted on Scribd, of course!). If you’re interested, my page of Scribd uploads. I hadn’t planned to blog…

Person v. Google Appeal Rejected

By Eric Goldman Person v. Google, 2009 WL 3059092 (9th Cir. Sept. 24, 2009) In June 2007, I wrote: “Person is a lawyer and a former candidate for NY Attorney General. He sued Google for antitrust violations based on its…

Google Confirms That Keyword Metatags Don’t Matter

By Eric Goldman Few Internet technologies have horked cyberlaw as much as keyword metatags. Back in the 1990s, some search engines indexed keyword metatags, which encouraged some websites to stuff their keyword metatags as a way of gaming the rankings….

Israeli Judge Permits Unlicensed Sports Event Streaming—FAPL v. Ploni (Guest Blog Post)

By Yoram Lichtenstein, Adv. Case No. 1636/08, Motion 11646/08, The Football Association Premier League Ltd. V. Ploni and others [in Hebrew], Tel Aviv District court, Judge Agmon-Gonen, Sept. 2, 2009. [Eric’s introductory note: I have received several emailed references to…

Making Sense of the $32M Contributory Trademark Infringement Judgment Against a Web Host–Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc

By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 5:07-CV-03952 (N.D. Cal. jury verdict returned Aug. 28, 2009). My blog post of the December 2008 ruling on summary judgment motions in the case. Last month, a jury returned…

Veoh Gets Yet Another Terrific 512 Defense Win–UMG v. Veoh

By Eric Goldman UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 2:07-cv-05744-AHM-AJW (C.D. Cal. Sept. 11, 2009) What’s the difference between the market leader and an also-ran? When the also-ran wins its third big legal victory in a row, the first…

Ninth Circuit Groaner About Metatags–Art Attacks v. MGA

By Eric Goldman Art Attacks Ink LLC v. MGA Entertainment, Inc., CV-04-01035-RMB (9th Cir. Sept. 16, 2009) What is it about metatags that cause legal folks to believe they have magical search powers? It’s a meme that the legal community…

Yahoo’s Search Results Snippets Aren’t False Endorsement–Stayart v. Yahoo

By Eric Goldman Stayart v. Yahoo! Inc., 2009 WL 2840478 (E.D. Wis. Aug. 28, 2009) Earlier this year, I blogged about Beverly Stayart’s quixotic lawsuit against Yahoo and others for showing search results snippets that contained her name adjacent to…

Employer Isn’t Liable for Employee Misuse of the Internet–Maypark v. Securitas

By Eric Goldman Maypark v. Securitas Security Services USA, Inc., 2009 WL 2750994 (Wis. App. Ct. Sept. 1, 2009) As part of my efforts to keep up with new cyberlaw developments, I read a lot of cases involving yucky facts….