Inflatable Giant Gorilla Attacks Google (for Copyright Infringement)–Scherba v. Google
By Eric Goldman Scherba Industries v. Google, Inc., 1:10-cv-02288 (N.D. Ohio complaint filed Oct. 7, 2010). Scherba makes giant inflatable gorillas. See an example. A little improbably, it has a copyright registration for a 3D sculptural work called “Gorilla Inflatable”–the…
September 2010 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP Edition)
By Eric Goldman Copyright * US v. ASCAP (2d Cir. Sept. 28, 2010): “the Internet Companies offer their customers the ability to download musical works over the Internet. It is undisputed that these downloads create copies of the musical works,…
Tip for Clean Living: Don’t Use a 14 Year Old’s Self-Portrait in Advertising for Porn–Lara Jade Coton v. TVX
By Eric Goldman Coton v. Televised Visual X-ography, Inc., 2010 WL 3768039 (M.D. Fla. Sept. 16, 2010). The initial complaint. Lara Jade’s blog post on the court victory. Comprehensive recap from Plagiarism Today, who has been tracking the case all…
Anti-Scraping Lawsuit Largely Gutted–Cvent v. Eventbrite
By Eric Goldman Cvent, Inc. v. Eventbrite, Inc., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96354 (E.D. Va. Sept. 14, 2010). Given the amount of scraping taking place every day all over the web, scraping lawsuits are surprisingly infrequent. In this ruling, a…
Software Vendor Trumps First Sale Doctrine via License–Vernor v. Autodesk
[Post by Venkat, with some comments from Eric below] Vernor v. Autodesk, Inc., Case No. 09-35969 (9th Cir. Sept. 10, 2010) [pdf]. The Ninth Circuit last week issued an opinion in one of the two cases addressing whether a transaction…
July-August 2010 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman IP * As expected, Rosetta Stone appealed its trademark loss against Google. My previous blog post. * Reality Blurred successfully counternoticed to overcome CBS’s DMCA takedown notice for the Survivor contract/rule book. * Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v….
Runescape Publisher Denied Preliminary Injunction Against Maker of Auto-Player Software — Jagex Ltd. v. Impulse Software
[Post by Venkat] Jagex Ltd. v. Impulse Software, et al., Case No. 10-10216-NMG (D. Mass.) (Aug. 16, 2010) Jagex operates “Runescape,” a popular and free online role-playing game. The game has over 130 million accounts, and users spend a significant…
July 2010 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP Edition)
By Eric Goldman Trademarks * Rebelution, LLC v. Perez, 2010 WL 3036217 (N.D. Cal. July 30, 2010). The plaintiff is a band named Rebelution. The defendant is a music performer named Pitbull who released an album “Pitbull Starring in Rebelution”…
Google Protected by 17 USC 512(d) for Links to Infringing Content; Perfect 10’s Takedown Notices Were Mostly Insufficient
By Eric Goldman Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2:04-cv-09484-AHM-SH (C.D. Cal. July 26, 2010) In 2007, the Ninth Circuit issued an important but befuddling ruling in Perfect 10 v. Amazon and Google. That ruling addressed Perfect 10’s prima facie…
Online Video Publisher Learns Why You Should Register Your Copyrights Early–LTVN v. Odeh
By Eric Goldman LTVN Holdings, LLC v. Odeh, 2010 WL 2612690 (D.Md. June 25, 2010). The 2009 ruling on jurisdiction in this case. Kramer is a litigator. He formed an organization that publishes educational videos about legal topics and provides…