Sideloading Service Defeats Copyright Infringement Claims–BWP v. Polyvore
BWP Media is a celebrity photo agency and a repeat online copyright plaintiff. Polyvore is…well, I don’t really get what they do. They say the site “is a new way to discover and shop for things you love in fashion,…
Was Melania Trump’s Plagiarism Also Copyright Infringement? (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa The first night of the Republican National Convention generated quite a bit of controversy, as Melania Trump was accused of plagiarizing a key passage in her speech from a similar passage in Michelle Obama’s speech…
Internet Troll’s “Political Shenanigans” Are Protected Speech–State v. Hirschman (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Prof. Jane Bambauer, University of Arizona James E. Rodgers College of Law Aaron Hirschman, a self-proclaimed “Internet troll,” posted the following message on Craigslist: Wanna make an easy $20 for voting? (Downtown Bend) Are you interested in…
Yelp Isn’t Liable For User-Submitted Photos Of Businesses–Albert v. Yelp
The last time I blogged about a lawyer who sued Yelp for defamation, I spilled 3,000 words (and shed many tears). Fortunately for my mental health and your reading queue, I’m pleased to report that today’s case has better–and more…
Q2 2016 Quick Links, Part 5 (Miscellaneous)
E-Commerce/Sharing Economy * Reuters: EU cautions governments against banning Uber, Airbnb * Needle Inc. v. Department of Workforce Services, 2016 WL 1729547 (Utah Ct. App. April 28, 2016). Finding that product advocates, who did online customer chatting on an ad…
“Modified Clickwrap” Upheld In Court–Moule v. UPS
[Eric’s introduction: today Venkat and I are “celebrating” (?) TOS Arbitration Day here at the Technology & Marketing Law Blog. Independently, we each drafted blog posts about arbitration clauses in terms of service–covering different cases! We could have combined the…
Ted Cruz’s Presidential Campaign Apparently Committed Copyright Infringement. Oops.
I know it may be my own idiosyncratic and romanticized view of governance, but I hold politicians to a higher standard when it comes to knowing, and complying with, the law. After all, if the people in charge of making…
Section 230 Protects YouTube’s Removal of User’s Videos–Lancaster v. Alphabet
This is one of those pro se cases where the court isn’t sure what the plaintiff is complaining about, so I apologize if my parsing is garbled as well. The court expends the most energy on the plaintiff’s allegation that…
Vimeo’s Second Circuit DMCA Safe Harbor Win Over Capitol Records
This is an important DMCA safe harbor opinion. It’s from the Second Circuit, an influential court, and it extends the Second Circuit’s 2012 key Viacom v. YouTube ruling in important ways. Still, the DMCA safe harbors remain defectively designed, and…
Q2 2016 Quick Links, Part 4 (Marketing, Privacy, Contracts)
Advertising/Marketing * Google will no longer run ads for payday lenders. * GALA: Brazil Enacts New Ambush Marketing Laws in Advance of Rio 2016 Olympic Games * Slate: The Do Not Call list was supposed to defeat telemarketers. Now scammy…