Courts Still Have No Clue How to Determine Who Owns Social Media Accounts–JLM v. Gutman
This is the latest entry in a long-running legal battle between Hayley Paige Gutman, a bridalwear designer, and JLM Couture, her one-time employer. Gutman created a Pinterest account in 2011 and an Instagram account in 2012, shortly after she began…
Two More Cases Compel Arbitration for Dubious Online Contracts (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Kieran McCarthy The intersection of the Federal Arbitration Act and the law of online contracts has become utterly corrosive to our legal system. Many people think this is true. But not enough lawyers say it often enough….
2023 Emoji Law Year-in-Review
I continue to maintain my census of U.S. cases referencing emojis or emoticons. In 2023, I logged 225 such cases (this number will grow a bit due to lags with the electronic databases). The case count continues to grow exponentially….
N.D. Cal. Judge Pushes Back on Copyright SAD Scheme Cases–Viral DRM v. YouTube Schedule A Defendants
My SAD Scheme paper provided some data indicating that 88% of SAD Scheme cases involved trademarks, with only 6% each in copyright and patents. So SAD Scheme copyright cases aren’t unheard of, but they are rare. * * * A…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Claiming It “Discriminated” Against Muslim & Palestinian Content–Elansari v. Facebook
I previously described this pro se lawsuit: “Elansari is Muslim. In this lawsuit, he claims that Facebook blocks pro-Palestinian publishers and favors pro-Israeli publishers. Thus, he argues, Jewish readers are more likely to get the information they want from Facebook…
2023 Internet Law Year-in-Review
My roundup of the top Internet Law developments of 2023: 10) California court bans targeted advertising (?). Regulators have sought to suppress online targeted advertising for years, with only minimal success. Then, in Liapes v. Facebook, a California appeals court…
Cloned-and-Revised Legal Documents Aren’t Copyrightable–UIRC v. William Blair
This case revisits the venerable topic of if, and when, cloning-and-revising a legal document can be copyright infringement. The plaintiff gets an expensive lesson in the law of derivative works. * * * UIRC offers bonds using a private placement…
2023 Quick Links: Social Media
Facebook * Meta Platforms, Inc. v. District of Columbia, 2023 WL 5964764 (D.C. Ct. App. Sept. 14, 2023). This is the latest ruling in an investigation by DC Attorney General into Meta’s content moderation practices, especially regarding COVID-19 policies. “The…
Facebook Defeats Lawsuit Over Its January 6 Explanation–Mahoney v. Meta
The court summarizes the allegations: Plaintiff Genevieve Mahoney is a college student at Furman University who has an Instagram account with the username @genmahoney19. Mahoney attended what she describes as a “Rally” to protest the results of the 2020 United…
2023 Quick Links: Censorship
Age Authentication * Axios: “Tech platforms struggle to verify their users’ age.” The article didn’t mention that mandatory online age authentication is also unconstitutional. * Guardian: Australia will not force adult websites to bring in age verification due to privacy…