Offering P2P File-Sharing Software for Downloading May Be Copyright Inducement–David v. CBS Interactive
By Eric Goldman David v. CBS Interactive Inc., CV 11-9437 DSF (C.D. Cal. July 13, 2012). The complaint. When the Grokster Supreme Court opinion came out in 2005, there was a lot of confusion about the relationship between copyright “inducement”…
Yet Another Case Says Section 230 Immunizes Newspapers from User Comments–Hadley v. GateHouse Media
By Eric Goldman Hadley v. GateHouse Media Freeport Holdings, Inc., 2012 WL 2866463 (N.D.Ill. July 10, 2012) One of the safest bets in Section 230 jurisprudence is that a traditional media publisher won’t be liable for user comments to its…
No Negligence Claim for Infringement via Shared Internet Connection (Preempted by Copyright Act) – Liberty Media v. Tabora
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Liberty Media Holdings, LLC v. Tabora & Whetstone, 12 Civ. 2234 (LAK) (S.D.N.Y.; July 9, 2012) A question that was floating around in the blogosphere was whether you can be sued for maintaining an open wi-fi…
Google Sued Again for AdWords Trademark Infringement–Home Decor Center v. Google
By Eric Goldman Home Decor Center v. Google, CV12-05706 (C.D. Cal. notice of removal filed July 2, 2012) After the 4th Circuit’s Rosetta Stone v. Google ruling, I wrote: Just like Google got hit with over a dozen lawsuits in…
H1 2012 Quick Links, Part 2 (Copyright)
By Eric Goldman * The scandal continues: Techdirt reports the Dajaz1 seizure was held up for months because the government was waiting for the RIAA to provide supporting evidence that never materialized. Wait, ICE seized an asset (that is used…
Angie’s List’s Telephone and Fax Information Services May Be Immunized by Section 230–Courtney v. Vereb
By Eric Goldman Courtney v. Vereb, 2012 WL 2405313 (E.D. La. June 25, 2012) Courtney and Vereb are both psychiatric professionals. Vereb posted allegedly defamatory comments about Courtney to Angie’s List in 2009. Courtney says he discovered the comments in…
Another Bad Ruling for PissedConsumer on Trademark and 47 USC 230 Claims–Amerigas v. Opinion Corp.
By Eric Goldman Amerigas Propane, LP v. Opinion Corp., 2012 WL 2327788 (E.D. Pa. June 19, 2012) You may recall PissedConsumer, the site that solicits user gripes, SEOs the crud out of them, and then offers the griped business pay-to-play…
CYBERsitter Sues Google for AdWords Trademark Infringement
By Eric Goldman CYBERsitter LLC v. Google, Inc., CV12-5293 (C.D. Cal. complaint filed June 18, 2012) CYBERsitter competes with Net Nanny and ContentWatch (apparently both owned by the same entity, ContentWatch) in the Internet filtering software niche. CYBERsitter claims ContentWatch…
Section 230 Doesn’t Protect Employer From Negligent Supervision Claim–Lansing v. Southwest Airlines. Warning: Ugly Opinion
By Eric Goldman Lansing v. Southwest Airlines Co., 2012 IL App (1st) 101164 (Ill. Ct. App. June 8, 2012) Overview This is a bad opinion. The court reaches the correct result that 47 USC 230 doesn’t immunize an employer for…
First Post-Viacom 512(c) Opinion Doesn’t Look Much Different–Obodai v. Demand Media
By Eric Goldman Obodai v. Demand Media, Inc., 2012 WL 2189740 (SDNY June 13, 2012) This is the first substantive ruling I’ve seen interpreting the Second Circuit’s Viacom v. YouTube ruling. (The Viacom ruling was also discussed in the Ouellette…