Copyright and Tattoos: Hangover II Injunction Denied, But the Copyright Owner Got Some Good News Too–Whitmill v. Warner Bros. (Guest Blog Post)

by Yvette Joy Liebesman [Eric’s note: Yvette is a law professor at Saint Louis University specializing in copyrights and trademarks. She attended the hearing and sent in this first-hand field report!] Whitmill v. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., 4:11-cv-00752 (E.D. Mo.)….

Dentist Pays Sizable Penalty for Not Knowing 47 USC 230–Wong v. Jing

By Eric Goldman Wong v. Jing, 1-08-CV-12997I (Cal. Superior Ct. May 13, 2011). Wendy Davis’ story on this ruling, plus coverage in DrBicuspid.com. At DoctoredReviews.com, we discussed that doctors upset with patients’ reviews can always bring a lawsuit. However, as…

Another Unhappy Facebook User’s Lawsuit Tossed–Kamango v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Kamango v. Facebook, 2011 WL 1899561 (N.D.N.Y. April 19, 2011). The judge approved the magistrate order on May 19, 2011. See Kamango v. Facebook, 2011 WL 1899277 (N.D.N.Y. May 19, 2011). The initial complaint. Kamango claims that…

Another Ruling that the Americans with Disabilities Act Doesn’t Apply to Websites–Ouellette v. Viacom

By Eric Goldman Ouellette v. Viacom: The magistrate report: 2011 WL 1882780 (D. Mont. March 31, 2011). The judge’s approval of the magistrate’s report: 2011 WL 1883190 (D. Mont. May 17, 2011). The original complaint (he filed an amended complaint…

Facebook User Loses Lawsuit Over Account Termination–Young v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Young v. Facebook, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52711 (N.D. Cal. May 17, 2011). My post on Judge Fogel’s Nov. 2010 dismissal of this case with leave to amend. Karen’s lawsuit-related website. I respect people of conviction,…

Quityerbitchin: Relative Search Results Placement Doesn’t Support Trademark Injunction–Bitchen Kitchen v. Bitchin’ Kitchen

By Eric Goldman Martha Elizabeth, Inc. v. Scripps Networks Interactive, LLC, 2011 WL 1750711 (W.D. Mich. May 9, 2011) It seems inconceivable to me that people would litigate over the term “Bitchin” almost 30 years after the Valley Girl song…

47 USC 230 and Message Board Cases

By Eric Goldman [I’ve been sitting on this blog post since March, so this post is slightly out of date. For example, I believe the recent Kruska ruling would be a new addition to the list. Putting aside any recent…

Two Recent Social Media Defendants Avoid Personal Jurisdiction

By Eric Goldman As I’ve said repeatedly, I try to stay away from blogging Internet personal jurisdiction cases. It’s hard to get excited about any civil procedure topic (no offense to the litigators and Civ Pro profs reading the blog!),…

Flash Cookies Lawsuit Tossed for Lack of Harm–La Court v. Specific Media

By Eric Goldman La Court v. Specific Media, Inc., 8:10-cv-01256-GW-JCG (C.D. Cal. April 28, 2011) Lawsuits over cookies seem so Y2K to me. I thought we’d pretty much concluded that placing cookies wasn’t actionable a decade ago (see, e.g., In…

Another Defense-Favorable Righthaven Ruling–Righthaven v. Choudhry

By Eric Goldman Righthaven v. Choudhry, 2011 WL 1743839 (D. Nev. May 3, 2011) This lawsuit involves the “Vdara Death-Ray” image published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which has been the basis of numerous Righthaven lawsuits. In this case, Choudhry…