Blockshopper Request to Dismiss Jones Day Lawsuit Denied

By Eric Goldman Jones Day v. Blockshopper LLC, 08CV4572 (N.D. Ill. Nov. 13, 2008). The CMLP page. 2008 has been a banner year for ridiculous trademark claims, so picking the most ridiculous is a little tricky…but this lawsuit easily makes…

October 2008 Quick Links, Part 3

By Eric Goldman Pornography * Can you believe this? A 15 year old girl took nude photos of herself using her cellphone and sent the photos to her peers. She is now being prosecuted on child pornography charges. The girl’s…

October 2008 Quick Links, Part 2

By Eric Goldman Spam * Kramer v. Perez. An Iowa court awards $236M in damages in a spam case. Venkat’s comments. * After the government lost its jury trial against Impulse Media, the court denied Impulse Media attorneys fees. Contracts…

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…