An Analysis of Title II of Public Law 115-264: The Classics Protection and Access Act (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Tyler Ochoa On October 11, 2018, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1551, the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, which became Public Law 115-364, 132 Stat. 3676. The Act contains three titles pertaining to copyright law. Title…
Section 230 Applies to Defend Trade Secret Act Claims–Craft Beer Stellar v. Glassdoor
Glassdoor is a consumer review site for employees reviewing employers. The plaintiff in this case is a franchisor. Purported employees of a franchisee posted six negative reviews about the franchisee on Glassdoor. The reviews mentioned the francishor’s CEO, Suzanne Schalow,…
FOSTA Doesn’t Help Pro Se Litigant’s Defamation Claim Against Facebook
This is a typical pro se defamation lawsuit against Facebook. The plaintiff claims that other Facebook users defamed him in a Facebook group. The court treats this as an easy Section 230 case. The court applies the standard three-part test…
Constitutional Challenge to FOSTA Dismissed for Lack of Standing (Guest Blog Post)
by guest blogger Alex F. Levy On September 24, 2018, the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia dismissed a case challenging the constitutionality of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA). FOSTA, which…
Good News! USMCA (a/k/a NAFTA 2.0) Embraces Section 230-Like Internet Immunity
There’s a lot to digest in the USMCA, the NAFTA 2.0 replacement that shall not be called NAFTA. This post focuses on one piece: USMCA Article 19.17 requires its signatories to adopt Internet immunity provisions similar to Section 230. (I…
Another Social Media “Material Support to Terrorists” Lawsuit Fails–Cain v. Twitter
This is one of the many cases against social media platforms alleging that they provided “material support” to terrorists. As a group, these lawsuits have gone nowhere, and this one doesn’t either. ATA Direct Liability. As with other cases, the…
Another 512(f) Case Fails–Handshoe v. Perret
This is a long-running series of cases. I first blogged a related dispute in 2013 (plus a second blog post in 2013 as well). Regarding this case, Handshoe posted a YouTube video that included a photo apparently owned by a…
Section 230 Helps Malware Vendor Avoid Liability for Blocking Decision–PC Drivers v. Malwarebytes
We rarely see cases like this any more, so I think it’s worth blogging this April ruling even though it just showed up in Westlaw. PC Drivers makes software designed to speed up users’ computers, an industry niche that’s known…
Twitter Isn’t Liable for Impersonation Account–Dehen v. Doe
Tiffany Dehen is a 2016 alumna of University of San Diego’s law school. Her website declares that she is “a true American and Patriotic Trump Supporter,” and her photo album includes a photo of her smiling with Dinesh D’Souza. She claims…
IP Address Subscriber Isn’t Liable for Copyright Infringement by Users Sharing That IP Address–Cobbler v. Gonzales
Plaintiff owns copyrights to “The Cobbler” movie and is trying to enforce its rights via litigation in courts around the country. Eric previously blogged about another The Cobbler enforcement suit that didn’t turn out well for the plaintiff. In this…