Videogame Doesn’t Infringe Tattoo Copyright By Depicting Basketball Players–Solid Oak Sketches v. 2K Games
This case deals with a venerable and vexing copyright law problem: if a person doesn’t own the copyright to his/her tattoos, do other people infringe by accurately depicting the person? The answer surely has to be “no.” Otherwise, ordinary daily…
Section 230 Protects Classifying Non-Competitive Software as a Threat–Asurvio v. Malwarebytes
Section 230(c)(2)(B) says that filtering software makers aren’t liable for their classification decisions. This proposition provides the legal foundation for the anti-threat software industry. However, those expectations were disrupted by the Ninth Circuit’s 2019 in Enigma v. Malwarebytes, which held…
Redbox’s Terms of Use Fail (OUCH)–Wilson v. Redbox
Redbox allegedly sent unwanted texts to Wilson. Wilson sued for TCPA violations. Redbox invoked the arbitration clause in its TOU. The court says the TOU did not properly form and denies the arbitration request. Ouch. Wilson joined Redbox in 2007…
“Material Support for Terrorism” Lawsuit Fails a Third Time–Colon v. Twitter
This lawsuit alleges that social media providers contributed to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub terrorist attack in Orlando that killed 49 people and injured dozens more. If that sounds familiar, that’s because those facts formed the basis of the Crosby v….
My Third Set of Comments to the CA DOJ on the CCPA Regulations
California is in a state of emergency. Our state is facing its worst public health crisis in decades (or possibly ever). Yet, the California DOJ is pushing forward its regulations to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). It just reiterated…
Newspaper Can Talk About “Derby Pies” Without Infringing Trademarks–Rupp v. Courier Journal
A “derby” is a dictionary noun for a race of three-year-old horses. The most famous derby in the United States is the Kentucky Derby, but the word traces its roots to a 1780 race in England. In 2017, the (Louisville)…
YouTuber Loses Lawsuit Over Channel Termination–Mishiyev v. Alphabet
Mishiyev, a/k/a “DJ Short-e,” is a YouTuber who claims he had 100M+ views and 250k subscribers. His videos started getting copyright complaints in 2016. He counternoticed those, but he claims he nevertheless saw traffic dropoffs and started making demands of…
Another Troubling Courtroom Loss for Online Marketplaces–Massachusetts Port Authority v. Turo
Turo is a peer-to-peer marketplace for car rentals. “Colloquially put, Turo is the ‘Airbnb’ of private motor vehicles.” Though Turo doesn’t dictate where the buyer and seller exchange the car, Turo facilitates matches at airports, either by the seller leaving…
Recap of the USDOJ’s Section 230 Roundtable
[Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the EARN IT Act, so I thought it would be a good time to catch up on this backlogged post on related topics.] In February, I attended two events organized…
The EARN IT Act Partially Repeals Section 230, But It Won’t Help Children
The EARN IT Act, S. 3398, was introduced last week. I believe this is the introduced version. I previously blogged a pre-introduction version of the EARN IT Act. The bill underwent substantial changes from the February draft–a few good, mostly…