Another Confused Entry in the Social Media Account Ownership Jurisprudence–JLM v. Gutman
This is a lawsuit between a wedding gown company, JLM, and Hayley Paige Gutman, a designer/influencer who worked for JLM. For background, check out my post on the district court’s ruling here: “Social Media Ownership Disputes Part II: Bridal Wear…
Lawsuit Still Goes to Arbitration, Even Though Amazon Has Since Removed Its Arbitration Clause–Nicosia v. Amazon
This is the latest update in Nicosia’s multi-year lawsuit against Amazon. That lawsuit has already resulted in two Second Circuit opinions (and three blog posts). The district court found Nicosia was bound by the arbitration agreement in Amazon’s terms of…
Privacy Lawsuit Based on Website Tracking by Service Provider Trimmed
This is a lawsuit against Nike and its service provider (FullStory), which provides Nike with “session replay” functionality for its website. FullStory’s software allows Nike to capture information regarding website visitors: (1) mouse clicks, (2) keystrokes, (3) payment card information,…
TOS Supports Injunction Against Web Scraping–Southwest Airlines v. Kiwi
This is a scraping lawsuit brought by Southwest airlines against Kiwi.com. The court issues an injunction restricting Kiwi from scraping Southwest’s website. Southwest does not allow online travel agencies to sell Southwest flights without the approval of Southwest. Its terms…
When is it Fair Use to Use a Photo to “Illustrate” an Article?
One of the practices that has generated a sizeable number of disputes and rulings is the use of photos to illustrate articles. There is no shortage of articles being generated online, and often those content producers simply canvass the web…
Judge Rakoff: Embedding Social Media Content is a “Display” Under the Copyright Act
Paul Nicklen is a highly acclaimed nature photographer. He posted a video of an emaciated polar bear wandering the Canadian Arctic to his Facebook and Instagram accounts to sound the alarm on climate change. Nicklen “urged his social media followers…
An Initial Look at Washington’s New Anti-SLAPP Statute
Washington’s anti-SLAPP statute was struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court in May 2015. Effective July 25, 2021, Washington has a new anti-SLAPP statute. My summary of the statute: Scope of coverage: The statute applies to causes of action…
Grokking the Supreme Court’s TransUnion Decision
A class of plaintiffs sued the credit bureau TransUnion, alleging that they were improperly placed on a “watch list” that TransUnion offered to supplement credit reports. TransUnion’s watch list was designed to help businesses avoid transacting with people who were…
‘365 for Business’ Users’ Privacy Lawsuit Dismissed–Russo v. Microsoft
Users of “Microsoft 365 For Business” allege oversharing by Microsoft, which translates into claims under (1) the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act; (2) Washington’s Consumer Protection Act; (3) the Washington one-party consent phone statute; and (4) common law….
Amazon Can’t Force Arbitration of Minors’ Privacy Lawsuit Over Alexa Recordings–BF v. Amazon
Minors allege that Amazon’s Alexa service improperly stores or utilizes their voiceprints. The district court denied Amazon’s request to force arbitration of the claims based on the fact that the plaintiffs, who were minors, were not signatories (or had not…