October 2008 Quick Links, Part 1 (Copyright Edition)
By Eric Goldman * Happy (?) 10th birthday, DMCA. The EFF birthday cards (1, 2). * Speaking of the DMCA, Sen. McCain got a first-hand experience with it when his lawyer complained to YouTube that YouTube was taking down campaign…
Rip-off Report Back in Court
By Eric Goldman It’s been a few months since I’ve blogged on new Rip-off Report litigation. For many companies, a blog hiatus might signal good news, but in Rip-off Report’s situation, it merely reflects that I’ve been falling behind in…
Student Term Paper Website Brings a Lawsuit; Instead Gets Nailed With $700k Award Against It–Axact v. Student Network Resources
By Eric Goldman Axact (Pvt.) Ltd. v. Student Network Resources, 2008 WL 4754907 (D. N.J. Oct. 22, 2008). The Justia page. Axact’s initial complaint. A letter from defense counsel to the judge recapping some of the sad story. I’m always…
Search Engine “Cache” Function Covered by Implied License–Parker v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Parker v. Yahoo, Inc., 2008 WL 4410095 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 25, 2008). Gordon Roy Parker is a serial pro se Internet law plaintiff and putative owner of copyrights in seemingly misogynistic works such as “Outfoxing the Foxes”…
September 2008 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Copyrights * In the Harry Potter fair use case, the court declared that the Lexicon encyclopedia isn’t fair use. * The judge declared a mistrial in the Jammie Thomas case. * Designer Skin v. S&L Vitamins has…
Licensing a Work, and When Licensing Doesn’t Work–Reuters v. GMU
A timely Exhibit A in the argument that contract law is being used as a back-door wedge in expanding copyright. By Ethan Ackerman Just as Bruce Boyden seriously asks, “is the case for contracts somehow expanding copyright rights vastly overstated?”…
Perfect 10 v. Google on Remand, and 230 as an Affirmative Defense
By Eric Goldman Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2008 WL 4217837 (C.D. Cal. July 16, 2008) You recall this case involving Perfect 10’s allegations that Google and Amazon (and, in a subsequent complaint, Microsoft) are infringing its rights by…
August 2008 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Net Neutrality * The FCC gets on Comcast’s case for deceptively blocking BitTorrent connections without disclosure. While I don’t know anyone who has defended Comcast’s behavior here, at the same time there is an undercurrent of concern…
Io v. Veoh Comments–a Terrific 512(c) Defense-Side Win
By Eric Goldman IO Group v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 5:2006cv03926 (N.D. Cal. Aug. 27, 2008) We spend so much time thinking about and debating 17 USC 512(c) that it’s easy to lose sight of how few cases really interpret the…
Fair Use – It’s the Law (for what it’s worth)–Lenz v. Universal
DMCA notice & takedown provisions upheld in Lenz v. Universal By Ethan Ackerman A recent ruling in Lenz v. Universal shows just how far being right about something can get you – barely past a motion to dismiss. It just…