Announcing the 2023 Edition of My Internet Law Casebook
I’m pleased to announce the 2023 edition (14th edition) of my Internet Law casebook, Internet Law: Cases & Materials. The book is available as a PDF at Gumroad for $10, a Kindle ebook for $9.99, a softcover version for $20, and a hardcover…
How A Century-Old Insight of Photography Can Inform Legal Questions of AI-Generated Artwork (Guest Blog Post)
A new breed of artists is using generative artificial intelligence tools like DALL·E, Midjourney, Firefly, and ChatGPT to create artistic works. Do these creations belong to the artists or the public domain? Do creators who use generative AI maintain copyright…
Ninth Circuit Reaffirms the “Server Test” for Direct Infringement of the Public Display Right — Hunley v. Instagram, LLC (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa Recently, the Ninth Circuit reaffirmed what has become known as the “server test”: in order to be held directly liable for violating the public display right, the alleged infringer must have a fixed “copy” of…
Section 230 Immunizes Facebook’s “Design and Architecture” Choices–M.P. v. Meta
This case involves the murderous attack by Dylann Roof against the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., killing nine African-Americans. A victim’s daughter sued Facebook, alleging that Facebook’s “design and architecture” radicalized Roof, and that should disqualify Facebook for Section…
Copyright Owner Can Proceed with Vicarious Infringement Claim Against eBay–Okolita v. eBay
Ellen Okolita developed bird costumes for children, took photos of her children wearing the costumes, and used the photos to sell about 8,000 costumes on Etsy (at her “Tree and Vine” store). Read a profile of her. (Sorry, I’m not…
Texan J6er’s Social Media Censorship Case Moved to California–Davis v. Facebook
Paul Davis is a lawyer and a self-described “J6er,” i.e., a participant in the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection. (His current Instagram bio: “God-fearing, freedom-fighting, ultra-MAGA🔥⬆️TX lawyer for patriots ✝️⚖️🇺🇸 J6er”). His legacy Facebook and Instagram accounts got suspended…
A Single Emoji Could Constitute Securities Fraud–In re Bed Bath & Beyond
This case involves Ryan Cohen, who made a fortune running Chewy.com and then switched his interests to meme stocks. He bought a 9% interest in the failing retailer Bed Bath and Beyond, hyped the stock, and then liquidated his position,…
Chegg Is Likely to Prevail on Its Anti-Scraping Contracts Claim…But Doesn’t Get an Injunction–Chegg v. Doe (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Kieran McCarthy Most web-scraping cases fit into one of two categories: Cases where companies are innovating with data in ways that data hosts/owners don’t like, and courts try to accommodate competing interests in accordance with prevailing legal…
Ninth Circuit Highlights the Messy Law of Contributory Trademark Infringement Online–YYGM v. RedBubble
Redbubble provides an online marketplace for print-on-demand items. Unlike other print-on-demand vendors, Redbubble outsources everything but the marketing and payment processing functions. Third-party user-merchants upload the images; third-party contract manufacturers and other vendors make and ship the ordered items. This…
DC Circuit Upholds FOSTA’s Constitutionality (By Narrowing It)–Woodhull v. U.S.
FOSTA is terrible social policy that hurt multiple communities without clearly benefiting any community, but its bad results don’t automatically make it unconstitutional. In response to a facial constitutional challenge to FOSTA, the DC Circuit upheld the law after making…