Another Blogger Wins a Fair Use Defense For a Photo–Leveyfilm v. Fox Sports
Danielle Wysocki blogged at “The Jersey Catcher,” a sports blog for women. On December 6, 2010, she blogged about a lawsuit over the 1985 novelty rap song “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” sung by members of the Chicago Bears football team….
TCPA Claim Against Taco Bell Fails For Lack of Agency
I mentioned before that a court said Taco Bell wasn’t liable for texts sent on its behalf because the plaintiff didn’t adequately allege the sender was Taco Bell’s agent (See “Franchisor Isn’t Liable Under the TCPA for Franchisees’ Text Message…
Lawyer’s Suit Over “Professional Recognition” Spam Flops
Say you’re a lawyer and you receive a promotional email intimating that you’re one of the “Top Lawyers in California.” You probably just delete it and move on, right? That would be too easy. Nicholas Bontrager sued Showmark alleging that…
First Amendment Precludes Disorderly Conduct Conviction for Ranting on Police Department Facebook Page
Smith was convicted following a jury trial of disorderly conduct and unlawful use of a computerized communication system. His charge stemmed for comments to the local police department’s Facebook page (access the town’s webpage here). The police department initially posted…
Want To Encourage Gossipy Content Online? Go For It–Jones v. TheDirty (Forbes Cross-Post)
In 1996, Congress enacted a crucial Internet law, 47 USC 230 (Section 230), which says that websites aren’t liable for third party content. This law, though sometimes counterintuitive, has played a huge and helpful role in the Internet’s growth by…
Criminal Cyberbullying Statute Violates First Amendment–New York v. Marquan
Albany County enacted a criminal cyberbulling statute, which defined cyberbulling as: any act of communicating or causing a communication to be sent by mechanical or electronic means, including posting statements on the internet or through a computer or email network,…
Stalking Conviction For Friending a Prosecutor’s Facebook Friends?–State v. Moller
Online stalking and threats are hot topics today, especially in light of the Supreme Court granting cert in US v. Elonis (we plan to recap that case before oral arguments). Today’s case highlights the grey area between veiled threats and…
Bad Idea: Shaming An Employee On Facebook For Health Issues–Shoun v. Best Formed Plastics
Jane Stewart, a company manager, posted the following on her Facebook page: Isn’t [it] amazing how Jimmy experienced a 5 way heart bypass just one month ago and is back to work, especially when you consider George Shoun’s shoulder injury…
Section 230 Immunizes Website For Super-User’s Doxxing–Internet Brands v. Jape
Internet Brands runs a UGC website for boating enthusiasts. It gives some super-users the power to delete promotional posts, but “Spam deleters are not authorized to ban users, remove posts or delete discussion threads,” and they don’t get paid. Although…
More Proof That Facebook Isn’t The Right Place To Bitch About Your Job–Talbot v. Desert View
Joseph Talbot was a nurse at Desert View Care Center. Talbot posted to Facebook: Ever have one of those days where you’d like to slap the ever loving bat snot out of a patient who is just being a jerk…