Q2 2018 Quick Links, Part 2 (Copyright)
* Naruto v. Slater (9th Circuit April 23, 2018). The monkey selfie case ends (for now?) with a whimper. The monkey has constitutional standing (per a misguided 9th Circuit precedent that should be overturned) but Naruto as a monkey lacks…
Who Needs a Copyright Small Claims Court? Evidence from the U.K.’s IP Enterprise Court (Guest Blog Post)
by guest bloggers Christian Helmers, Yassine Lefouili, Brian J. Love & Luke McDonagh Amidst recent excitement surrounding the Music Modernization Act (which passed the House last month) and the CLASSICS Act (the subject of Senate Judiciary hearings last week), it would…
Redfin Must Defend Copyright Suit Over Property Photos–Stross v. Redfin
Stross is a photographer who licenses his photographs to real estate agents. He licensed the photos through ACTRIS, a multiple listing service that compiles listings into a database for use by brokers and realtors. ACTRIS users who upload their photos…
Bittersweet DMCA Safe Harbor Defense Win in Ninth Circuit–Ventura v. Motherless (Catch-Up Post)
Motherless runs a UGC site for adult content. None of its content is licensed from content producers. It is primarily ad-supported (85%), with the remaining revenues coming from subscriptions (but only 0.2% of active users are subscribers) and sales of schwag. For a…
A DMCA Section 512(f) Case Survives Dismissal–ISE v. Longarzo (Catch-up Post)
I’m blogging this case now, even though it came out a few months ago, because we see so few 512(f) cases that make any progress at all. At its core, the litigants dispute ownership over a TV show, “The Weekend…
Recapping a Year’s Worth of Section 230 Cases That Got Stuck in My Blogging Queue
[Though most of these rulings are defense-favorable, Congress recently eviscerated Section 230 and isn’t done ruining its greatest online policy masterpiece] Twitter Defeats Defamation Claim As part of a custody dispute, a former spouse allegedly disparaged the other spouse in…
DMCA Safe Harbor Applies to Some Unfair Competition Claims–Capitol Records v. Vimeo
You probably remember this case. Copyright owners sued the video hosting site Vimeo for third party uploaded videos that allegedly infringed their copyrights. Given this was the paradigmatic situation the DMCA safe harbor was designed to address, you’d think this…
2H 2017 & Q1 2018 Quick Links, Part 1: Copyright, Trademarks, Keyword Ads
[As you can tell, my ability to prepare these Quick Links posts has degraded substantially…better late than never?] Copyright * The Executive Corp. v. Oisoon, LLC, 2017 WL 4310113 (M.D. Tenn. Sept. 28, 2017). A default judgment: “A section 1202(b)(1)…
DMCA’s Unhelpful 512(f) Preempts Helpful State Law Claims–Stevens v. Vodka and Milk
As part of the DMCA, Congress enacted a cause of action for people who send bogus copyright takedown notices, codified at 17 USC 512(f). It was a good thought executed terribly. The courts have interpreted the law to require subjective bad…
SESTA’s Sponsors Still Don’t Understand Section 230 (As They Are About to Eviscerate It)
The SESTA and FOSTA “debates” have been repeatedly marred by inaccurate claims. As one of countless examples, recall Prof. Leary’s testimony to Congress that FOSTA “leaves Section 230(c), the Good Samaritan immunity section, untouched.” What??? Of course FOSTA amends Section 230(c)–THAT’S THE…