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….
Lori Drew Criminal Case Ends With a Whimper
By Eric Goldman United States v. Drew, 2009 WL 2872855 (C.D. Cal. Aug. 28, 2009) Almost 2 months ago, the judge presiding over the Lori Drew trial orally announced that he intended to rule in favor of Drew, but it…
Yahoo Subpoenas Expedia in American Airlines Lawsuit
By Eric Goldman Yahoo and American Airlines are still tussling over Yahoo’s sale of American Airlines’ trademarks as keyword triggers (see background at 1, 2, 3). According to Yahoo, American Airlines is arguing that online travel agencies such as Expedia…
Why More Wikipedia Editing Restrictions Are Inevitable, and Some Comments on Flagged Revisions for Living People’s Biographies
By Eric Goldman I have posted my latest article, “Wikipedia’s Labor Squeeze and its Consequences,” to SSRN. The article will be published in the Journal of Telecommunications and High Technology Law in the relatively near future. The article is still…
Online Retailer Isn’t Liable for User Comments–Cornelius v. DeLuca
By Eric Goldman Cornelius v. DeLuca, 2009 WL 2568044 (E.D. Mo. Aug. 18, 2009) DeLuca runs bodybuilding.com, a fitness website and online retailer. The plaintiffs sell dietary supplements (“syntrax,” whatever that is). The plaintiffs allege that their competitors posted shill…
Sedgwick Claims Management v. Delsman Appealed to Ninth Circuit
By Eric Goldman Put this one in the “Are you kidding me?” file. Last month I blogged about Sedgwick Claims Management v. Delsman involving a small-time griper who had the temerity to cut-and-paste some company executive headshots to create his…