2021 Emoji Law Year-in-Review
A recap of emoji law developments in 2021: Court References I maintain a dataset of US court opinions that reference emojis and emoticons. I have compiled the dataset using keyword alerts in Westlaw and Lexis, supplemented by a few opinions…
Twitter Can’t Quash a 512(h) Subpoena
This case involves the Twitter account “@CallMeMoneyBags,” a pseudonymous account. In October 2020, the user posted 6 tweets attacking Brian Sheth, a private equity billionaire, that included photos “depicting a woman or portions of a woman’s body.” The opinion doesn’t…
Recipes Aren’t Copyrightable, No Matter How “Exciting” They Are–Coscarelli v. Esquared
This case involves vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli, the first vegan to win Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. That win made her a legend in the vegan community, and she has parlayed her fame into some great vegan cookbooks. She also connected…
A 512(f) Plaintiff Wins at Trial! 👀–Alper Automotive v. Day to Day Imports
Background A refresher: in 1998, Congress created a notice-and-takedown scheme for user-submitted items that allegedly infringe copyright. Copyright owners send takedown notices, and service providers either remove the items or lose the safe harbor. Congress recognized how much power it…
Yearbook Defendants Lose Two More Section 230 Rulings
2021 has seen the emergence of a litigation genre against “yearbook” database vendors that publish old yearbooks online. I’ve blogged three yearbook cases so far this year (Callahan v. Ancestry, Knapke v. Classmates, and Sessa v. Ancestry), and today I’ll…
Comments on the Copyright Office’s Copyright Claims Board Rulemaking
A year ago, at the nadir of the Trump era, Congress attached the CASE Act to an unrelated must-pass bill and authorized a new “small claims court” for copyright owners (called the Copyright Claims Board, or CCB) housed in the…
Are Individual Emoji Depictions Copyrightable? Yes…Well, Sometimes…It Depends…
Though it might surprise you, copyright can protect individual emoji depictions. However, determining when they are copyrightable is a subtle art. This summer, the Copyright Review Board issued an interesting decision about the registrability of emojis. Though it won’t be the…
Court Orders Unmasking Subpoena of Alleged Infringers–Baugher v. GoDaddy
In the DMCA, Congress enabled copyright owners to obtain pre-litigation discovery of alleged infringers (17 USC 512(h)). After sending a takedown notice, the copyright owner can apply for an unmasking subpoena, which the clerk of the court must issue without…
If “Trespass to Chattels” Isn’t Limited to “Chattels,” Anarchy Ensues–Best Carpet Values v. Google
Trigger warning: this is a terrible opinion. Let’s hope the judge corrects his errors or that the appeals court does it for him. * * * This opinion addresses a venerable issue in Internet Law: can a website control how…
Cloudflare Isn’t Liable for Providing Services to Alleged Infringers–Mon Cheri Bridals v. Cloudflare
The plaintiffs claim copyright ownership in wedding dress designs. They also claim that knockoff retailers are infringing those rights. Frustrated by the whack-a-mole enforcement efforts against individual retailers, the plaintiffs sued Cloudflare for providing support services to them, including caching,…