Can 512(f) Support an Injunction? Novotny v. Chapman
By Eric Goldman Novotny v. Chapman, 2006 WL 2335598 (W.D. N.C. Aug. 9, 2006) Chapman prepares a video showing how to cut women’s hair. Novotny obtains a license to stream the video via the web. Later, Chapman has a change…
Brand Spillovers Talk
By Eric Goldman Yesterday, at the IP Scholars Conference at Boalt, I presented my paper currently titled “Brand Spillovers.” This is the evolution of my project from last year I was calling Trademark Adjacency. I’m still trying to think through…
Whitney Information v. Xcentric Update
By Eric Goldman Whitney Information Network v. Xcentric Ventures, 2006 WL 2243041 (11th Cir. Aug 1, 2006) I previously blogged on this case, where the operators of ripoffreport.com and ripoffrevenge.com won a 230 defense in district court. However, the judge…
eBay Not Liable for Defamatory Feedback–Sturm v. eBay
By Eric Goldman Sturm v. eBay, No. 1-06-CV-057926 (Cal. Superior Ct. July 27, 2006) [sorry, my copies are pretty poor: page 1, page 2] Your mother always said “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” This…
Amazon’s Display of Book Cover Doesn’t Violate Publicity Rights—Almeida v. Amazon.com
By Eric Goldman Almeida v. Amazon.com, Inc., 2006 U.S. APP. LEXIS 17989 (11th Cir. July 18, 2006) Introduction Product photos on e-commerce websites’ product pages are a notorious liability trap. During my tenure at Epinions, product page photos were the…
Search Engine Liability for Selling Keywords Redux–800-JR Cigar v. GoTo.com
By Eric Goldman 800-JR Cigar, Inc. v. GoTo.com, Inc., 2006 WL 1971659 (D. N.J. July 13, 2006) This is a confusing but important case about search engine liability for selling trademarked keywords. Because of the opinion’s convoluted nature, there’s no…
Wikipedia and 230, and a Great 230 Case Law Resource
Ken Myers, a recent Harvard Law School graduate and soon-to-be attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, has posted an article, Wikimmunity, to SSRN. The article concludes that Wikipedia will be squarely immunized from liability by 47 USC 230. While this conclusion…
Griper Gets 47 USC 230 Defense for Reposted Article–D’Alonzo v. Truscello
By Eric Goldman D’Alonzo v. Truscello, 2006 Phila. Ct. Com. Pl. LEXIS 244 (Phila. Ct. Common Pleas May 31, 2006) Another 230 case, another defense win. Yawn. However, this case is noteworthy because it addresses (albeit, glibly) a thorny 230…
Happy (?) Anniversary, Grokster v. MGM
By Eric Goldman Yesterday was the 1 year anniversary of the Grokster Supreme Court ruling. This opinion was one of the most hotly anticipated Supreme Court opinions relating to copyrights (and perhaps any subject matter) of the last decade or…
Google Child Porn Lawsuit Withdrawn–Toback v. Google
By Eric Goldman Sensing that his 15 minutes of fame was up, Jeffrey Toback has withdrawn his lawsuit against Google regarding Google’s alleged facilitation of child pornography. This withdrawal is hardly surprising given the lawsuit’s complete lack of merit. Nevertheless,…