Q3 2009 Quick Links, Part 3
By Eric Goldman Copyright * AP v. All Headline News settles. My initial blog post. The settlement order. * The Turnitin case has settled. My blog post on the district court ruling. * Corbis Corp. v. Starr, No. 3:07CV3741 (N.D….
Q3 2009 Quick Links, Part 2
By Eric Goldman Trademark * Venkat: Twitter makes the dictionary. * Federal Circuit says Hotels.com is generic. * Steve Madden sues eBay for trademark infringement. Marty’s coverage. Justia page. I found the fifth cause of action, “trademark delusion,” a surprisingly…
Q3 2009 Quick Links, Part 1
By Eric Goldman My system of managing news items that don’t warrant a full blog post but can’t fit into a 140 character Twitter post has broken down. So, I’m belatedly catching up on my backlog of things that caught…
A Fuller Explanation of Why the FTC Endorsement/Testimonial Guidelines Violate 47 USC 230
By Eric Goldman Last week’s release of the FTC’s new Endorsement and Testimonial Guidelines has generated a significant amount of angst online. The resulting commentary has been strongly and almost uniformly negative. Frankly, none of the sources I read have…
Do the FTC’s New Endorsement/Testimonial Rules Violate 47 USC 230?
By Eric Goldman In reading the FTC’s new rules on endorsements and testimonials in advertisements, I was struck by the FTC’s expansive vision of advertiser liability for third party-caused violations. In particular, the FTC apparently has made the same analytical…
Ripoff Report Rolls to Another Win–Intellect Art v. Milewski
By Eric Goldman Intellect Art Multimedia v. Milewski, 117024/08 (NY Sup. Ct. Sept. 15, 2009). For more background on the lawsuit, check out the companion blog. This case involves the “Swiss Finance Academy,” an expensive summer college program. A disgruntled…
Another Copyright Owner Doesn’t Like 512(c)…and Thinks an Anti-Copying Filter is Copyright Infringing–Scott v. Scribd
By Eric Goldman Scott v. Scribd, Inc., 4:09-cv-03039 (S.D. Tex. complaint filed Sept. 18, 2009) (linked to a copy of the complaint hosted on Scribd, of course!). If you’re interested, my page of Scribd uploads. I hadn’t planned to blog…
Making Sense of the $32M Contributory Trademark Infringement Judgment Against a Web Host–Louis Vuitton v. Akanoc
By Eric Goldman Louis Vuitton Malletier SA v. Akanoc Solutions, Inc., 5:07-CV-03952 (N.D. Cal. jury verdict returned Aug. 28, 2009). My blog post of the December 2008 ruling on summary judgment motions in the case. Last month, a jury returned…
Veoh Gets Yet Another Terrific 512 Defense Win–UMG v. Veoh
By Eric Goldman UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc., 2:07-cv-05744-AHM-AJW (C.D. Cal. Sept. 11, 2009) What’s the difference between the market leader and an also-ran? When the also-ran wins its third big legal victory in a row, the first…
Yahoo’s Search Results Snippets Aren’t False Endorsement–Stayart v. Yahoo
By Eric Goldman Stayart v. Yahoo! Inc., 2009 WL 2840478 (E.D. Wis. Aug. 28, 2009) Earlier this year, I blogged about Beverly Stayart’s quixotic lawsuit against Yahoo and others for showing search results snippets that contained her name adjacent to…