Yellow Pages Publisher Hit with $1.5M Fraud Judgment for Publishing False Ad–Knepper v. Brown
By Eric Goldman Knepper v. Brown, CC 9903-02495 (Or. Sup. Ct. Oct. 9, 2008) A woman got a botched liposuction job (which plaintiff’s expert described as an “uncorrectable disaster”) from Dr. Brown, a dermatologist. She sued the dermatologist and Dex,…
October 2008 Quick Links, Part 1 (Copyright Edition)
By Eric Goldman * Happy (?) 10th birthday, DMCA. The EFF birthday cards (1, 2). * Speaking of the DMCA, Sen. McCain got a first-hand experience with it when his lawyer complained to YouTube that YouTube was taking down campaign…
Lambotte’s Click Fraud Lawsuit Against IAC Survives Motion to Dismiss
By Eric Goldman Lambotte v. IAC/InterActiveCorp, 2008 WL 4829882 (C.D. Cal. Nov. 4, 2008). Initial blog post on the filing of the first complaint. Lambotte filed this putative class action lawsuit against IAC in May based on alleged click fraud….
Rip-off Report Wins Dismissal–GW Equity v. Xcentric
By Eric Goldman I’m thinking about renaming this blog the “Rip-off Report Blog.” After all, I blog about them frequently, and there seems to be a never-ending supply of new legal developments. Plus, I know readers are interested in them…
Rip-off Report Back in Court
By Eric Goldman It’s been a few months since I’ve blogged on new Rip-off Report litigation. For many companies, a blog hiatus might signal good news, but in Rip-off Report’s situation, it merely reflects that I’ve been falling behind in…
First Amendment Protects Spoof Strip Club in Video Game from Trademark Claim–ESS Entertainment v. Rock Star Videos
By Eric Goldman E.S.S. Entertainment 2000, Inc. v. Rock Star Videos, Inc., No. 06-56237 (9th Cir. Nov. 5, 2008) This case reinforces how trademark law has gone so far astray that easy cases have become hard ones. This lawsuit was…
SEC’s Proposed Guidance on Hyperlinking Contravenes 47 USC 230
By Eric Goldman In August, I blogged about the SEC’s most recent guidance regarding companies’ liability for linking to third party content. Today, I submitted comments to the SEC pointing out that their general position regarding linking contravenes 47 USC…
Student Term Paper Website Brings a Lawsuit; Instead Gets Nailed With $700k Award Against It–Axact v. Student Network Resources
By Eric Goldman Axact (Pvt.) Ltd. v. Student Network Resources, 2008 WL 4754907 (D. N.J. Oct. 22, 2008). The Justia page. Axact’s initial complaint. A letter from defense counsel to the judge recapping some of the sad story. I’m always…
Federal Circuit Comes to Santa Clara University Next Week
By Eric Goldman Next week, a three judge panel of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals will be visiting Santa Clara University and hearing oral arguments in four cases. You can read the briefs of the cases to be heard….
Stockholder Derivative Action Against Yahoo Based on Click Fraud Rebuffed–Brodsky v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Brodsky v. Yahoo! Inc., 2008 WL 4531815 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 7, 2008). The Justia page. Previous blog coverage. You may recall this stockholder derivative lawsuit against Yahoo alleging that Yahoo hyped its stock prices by overstating its…