Doctors’ Online Reputation Management and Patient Reviews (Talk Notes from ASAPS Annual Meeting)
By Eric Goldman I recently spoke at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) in Vancouver, BC. This is not a normal conference venue for me! (And given the number of fashion-conscious people at the…
Trademark Trolling by SEO Consultant Provides Cautionary Anti-SOPA Tale (and Other Lessons)–Premier Pool Management v. Lusk
By Eric Goldman Premier Pool Management Corp. v. Lusk, 2012 WL 1593206 (E.D. Cal. May 4, 2012) Have I mentioned recently how much I hate SOPA? Today’s case is a textbook example of why SOPA–and the things it stood for–were…
Groupon Defeats Trademark Challenge–Groupion v. Groupon
By Eric Goldman Groupion, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., 2012 WL 1655728 (N.D. Cal. May 8, 2012). Groupion makes CRM software. Groupon is the leading online daily deals provider. A year ago, Groupion sued Groupon for trademark infringement. Last Fall, the…
Granick on CISPA’s Deficiencies (With Some of My Own Comments)
By guest-blogger Jennifer Granick (with comments from Eric) [Eric’s introduction: Some guest visitors to the blog need no introduction, and that surely describes Jennifer Granick (her Wikipedia page). She’s cast huge shadows over cyberlaw in her various stints, including being…
A Twitter Exception for Defamation?
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] William Charron pubished a short piece for the Berkeley Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law that caught my eye (“Twitter: A “Caveat Emptor” Exception to Libel Law” [pdf]). His central point: Twitter’s characteristics and limitations should…
The Dangerous Meme That Won’t Go Away: Using Copyright Assignments to Suppress Unwanted Content–Scott v. WorldStarHipHop
By Eric Goldman Scott v. WorldStarHipHop, Inc., 2012 WL 1592229 (S.D.N.Y. May 3, 2012) Copyright law wasn’t designed as a privacy enhancing doctrine, but sometimes plaintiffs try to repurpose copyright law anyway. This case is an interesting illustration of how…
New York Judge *Slams* Bittorrent Copyright Plaintiffs – K-Beech; Malibu Media; and Patrick Collins v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] K-Beech, Inc. v. Does 1-37, CV 11-3995 (E.D.N.Y.) Malibu Media, LLC v. Does 1-26, CV 11-1147 (E.D.N.Y.) Malibu Media, LLC v. Does 1-11, CV 11-1150 (E.D.N.Y.) Patrick Collins, Inc. v. Does 1-9, CV 11-1154 (E.D.N.Y.) Order…
An Unmasking Effort Gets Gutted Some More – Art of Living Foundation v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Art of Living Foundation v. Does, 10-cv-05022-LHK (N.D. Cal.; May 1, 2012) I posted earlier about the Art of Living Foundation’s (AOLF) efforts to unmask online critics (posting psueudonymously as ‘Skywalker’ and ‘Klim’). In early rulings,…
Topix Protected by 47 USC 230–Price v. Gannett
By Eric Goldman Price v. Gannett Co., 2012 WL 1570972, (S.D. W. Va. May 1, 2012) This is a pro se case. The plaintiffs alleged that pseudonymous posters made defamatory and otherwise tortious remarks about the plaintiffs on Topix. The…
Franchisor Really, Really Unhappy With Franchisee’s Co-Promotion With a Topless Bar–Capriotti’s v Taylor
By Eric Goldman Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, Inc. v. Taylor Family Holdings, Inc., 2012 WL 1448514 (D. Del. April 25, 2012). The complaint and exhibits A-D, E-H and I-O. Some background. Capriotti’s is a franchised fast-food sandwich chain, with its signature…