New York Judge *Slams* Bittorrent Copyright Plaintiffs – K-Beech; Malibu Media; and Patrick Collins v. Does

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] K-Beech, Inc. v. Does 1-37, CV 11-3995 (E.D.N.Y.) Malibu Media, LLC v. Does 1-26, CV 11-1147 (E.D.N.Y.) Malibu Media, LLC v. Does 1-11, CV 11-1150 (E.D.N.Y.) Patrick Collins, Inc. v. Does 1-9, CV 11-1154 (E.D.N.Y.) Order…

An Unmasking Effort Gets Gutted Some More – Art of Living Foundation v. Does

[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Art of Living Foundation v. Does, 10-cv-05022-LHK (N.D. Cal.; May 1, 2012) I posted earlier about the Art of Living Foundation’s (AOLF) efforts to unmask online critics (posting psueudonymously as ‘Skywalker’ and ‘Klim’). In early rulings,…

Comments on the Megaupload Prosecution (a Long-Delayed Linkwrap)

By Eric Goldman [I’ve been working on this linkwrap for 3 months. Linkwraps rarely improve with age. At this point, it’s not even clear the US government has a case due to its repeated gaffes. Nevertheless, I’ve decided to post…

512(f) Plaintiff Can’t Get Discovery to Back Up His Allegations of Bogus Takedowns–Ouellette v. Viacom

By Eric Goldman Ouellette v. Viacom Intern., Inc., 2012 WL 1435703 (D. Mont. April 25, 2012) Ouellette sued Viacom for sending allegedly bogus takedown notices for videos he posted to YouTube. His case has gone nowhere. In 2011, his ADA…

Internet Intermediary Law Slides from Stanford Guest Lecture

By Eric Goldman I recently guest-lectured at an Internet Law course at Stanford, run by Jennifer Granick and Richard Salgado. My slides. Jennifer asked me to cover 47 USC 230 and 17 USC 512 in a single session. I know…

MapleStory Enforcement Action Leads to Ridiculously Large Anti-Circumvention Damages–Nexon v. Kumar

By Eric Goldman Nexon America Inc. v. Kumar, 2012 WL 1116328 (C.D. Cal. April 3, 2012) It can be disconcerting when UGC websites turn into IP enforcement plaintiffs. Perhaps the biggest offender has been Craigslist, which has brought numerous ill-advised…

Second Circuit Ruling in Viacom v. YouTube Is a Bummer for Google and the UGC Community

By Eric Goldman Viacom International, Inc., v. YouTube, Inc., 10-3270-cv, 2012 WL 1130851 (2d Cir. April 5, 2012). The companion case is the Football Association Premier League Ltd. v. YouTube, 10-3342-cv Overview After five years in the courts, the Viacom…

Another 512(f) Claim Fails–Ouellette v. Viacom

By Eric Goldman Ouellette v. Viacom Intern., Inc., 2012 WL 850921 (D. Mont. March 13, 2012). Prior blog post on the case. Ouellette brought a 17 USC 512(f) claim against Viacom for sending bogus takedown notices. As we know, it’s…

Irrational Copyright Lawsuit Over “Pi Symphony” Gets Sliced–Erickson v. Blake

By Eric Goldman Erickson v. Blake, 2012 WL 847327 (D. Oregon March 14, 2012). The complaint. A prior ruling in the case transferring it from Nebraska to Oregon for jurisdictional reasons. Techdirt’s coverage (1, 2). This case could be an…

Justin.tv Mostly Eliminates Zuffa’s Trademark and Communications Act Claims Over User-to-User Live Video Streaming

By Eric Goldman Zuffa LLC v. Justin.tv, Inc., 2012 WL 764424 (D. Nev. March 8, 2012). The complaint. [Note: I’ve worked with Justin.tv on related issues, but I’m speaking for myself in this post] Justin.tv allows user-to-user live video streaming….