Facebook Preliminarily Wins Copyright Lawsuit over Third Party App–Miller v. Facebook

By Eric Goldman Miller v. Facebook, Inc., 2010 WL 1292708 (N.D. Cal. March 31, 2010) Miller developed a videogame called Boomshine. He is upset that Yeo made an allegedly infringing knockoff variation of the game, called ChainRxn, and distributed the…

March 2010 Quick Links

By Eric Goldman Internet Exceptionalism * Stern v. Sony Corp., CV 09-7710 PA (C.D. Cal. Feb. 8 2010) “to the extent Plaintiff is suing Sony as a manufacturer of video games, and the provider of online services, Sony is not…

YouTube Uploader Can’t Sue Sender of Mistaken Takedown Notice–Cabell v. Zimmerman

By Eric Goldman Cabell v. Zimmerman, 2010 WL 996007 (S.D.N.Y. Mar 12, 2010) A few other folks have written about this case already, but it’s worth noting a couple of points. Cabell posted a video, Pretty Faces, to YouTube. Actors’…

Craigslist Wins $1.3M Default Judgment Against Autoposting Facilitator — craigslist v. Naturemarket

[Post by Venkat] craigslist, Inc. v. Naturemarket, Inc., Case No. C 08-05065 PJH (MEJ) (N.D. Cal. March 5, 2010) [scribd] (report and recommendation adopted on February 5, 2010) Craigslist obtained a 1.3 million dollar default judgment against defendants Naturemarket, Inc….

Search Engine Legal Developments to Watch in 2010

By Eric Goldman I recently spoke on a panel about search engines and the law at SMX West. I previewed four major trends in search engine law to watch in 2010: 1) Competition issues. Antitrust/competition law has become a big…

Another Bad Ruling in Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc

By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 5:07-cv-03952-JW (N.D. Cal. March 19, 2010) I have not seen a definitive statement of facts in this case, so synthesizing various cryptic statements by the court, here’s my understanding…

Viacom v. YouTube Summary Judgment Motions Highlights

By Eric Goldman Who doesn’t enjoy a good old-fashioned mud-slingin’ showdown? That’s exactly what we’ve got on our hands in the dueling summary judgment motions from Viacom and YouTube in the long-running copyright infringement case (see my initial post from…

Why I Support HR 4364, the Proposed Federal Anti-SLAPP Bill

By Eric Goldman In mid-December, in a move that got a little lost in the holiday shuffle, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced HR 4364, the “Citizen Participation Act of 2009,” proposing a federal anti-SLAPP law. This blog post explains why…

February 2010 Quick Links

By Eric Goldman Copyright * Mavericks Recording Co. v. Harper (5th Cir. Feb. 25, 2010). 17 USC 402(d) precludes an innocent infringement defense in P2P downloading case when the record companies place proper copyright notices on their works. This is…

Rare Ruling on Damages for Sending Bogus Copyright Takedown Notice–Lenz v. Universal

By Eric Goldman Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., 5:07-cv-03783-JF (N.D. Cal. Feb. 25. 2010) In the lawsuit over the allegedly bogus takedown of a YouTube video of a baby dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” (previous blog coverage), Judge Fogel…