YouTube and its Amici File Their Briefs in the Viacom v. YouTube Appeal
By Eric Goldman I’m catching up with the YouTube-side briefs in the Viacom v. YouTube appeal. (See my analogous post on the Viacom-side briefs). Once again, Michael Barclay has been kind enough to organize the briefs into a single post….
Announcing DoctoredReviews.com, a Website Against Doctors’ Efforts to Squelch Online Patient Reviews
By Eric Goldman I’m pleased to announce the launch of DoctoredReviews.com, a website that addresses Medical Justice’s form contract that seeks to restrict patients’ online reviews of doctors by taking a prospective copyright assignment in the patients’ unwritten reviews. Medical…
StubHub Denied Section 230 Defense in Scalping Case–Hill v. StubHub
By Eric Goldman Hill v. StubHub, Inc., 2011 WL 1675043 (N.C. Super. Ct. Feb. 28, 2011). My previous blog post in this case. This is a putative class action lawsuit against StubHub for violating North Carolina’s anti-scalping laws, which both…
Republisher of Youthful Sexting Photos Avoids Liability (For Now)–Doe v. Peterson
By Eric Goldman Doe v. Peterson, 2011 WL 1120172 (E.D. Mich. March 24, 2011) This is an interesting sexting lawsuit. Doe took explicit photos of herself and sent them via MySpace to her then-boyfriend. She did not follow my recommendations…
Online Booksellers Get 47 USC 230 Immunity for Publisher-Supplied Marketing Collateral–Parisi v. Sinclair
By Eric Goldman Parisi v. Sinclair, 2011 WL 1206193 (D.C. D.C. March 31, 2011). The complaint. More source documents. Sinclair self-published a book that Parisi believes defamed him. The book showed up in Books-a-Million, B&N and Amazon. All of the…
Defendant Succeeds On Second Attempt With a Section 230 Dismissal–Mealer v. GMAC
By Eric Goldman Mealer v. GMAC Mortgage LLC, 2011 WL 1103357 (D. Ariz. March 25, 2011) I previously blogged about this case a few weeks ago. Mealer claims that a GM employee, Kordella, bad-mouthed him in a comment on Mealer’s…
Website Privacy Policy Supports Pseudonymous Poster’s Expectation of Privacy — Cornelius v. Deluca
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Cornelius v. Deluca, 10-Cv-027-BLW (D.Id.; Mar. 15, 2011) A district court judge in Idaho denied a request to unmask the identity of a pseudonymous forum poster. In support of its decision, the court looked to the…
Groupon Hit With Two Lanham Act Lawsuits, and One Takes Google Along for the Ride
By Eric Goldman Groupion, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., 3:11-cv-00870-EMC (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Feb. 24, 2011) San Francisco Comprehensive Tours, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., CV-1300 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed March 17, 2011) __________ A company doesn’t reach a purported $6B…
Yelp Beats “Implied Extortion”/”Pay-to-Play” Lawsuit in Round #1–Levitt v. Yelp
By Eric Goldman Levitt v. Yelp, 3:10-cv-01321-MHP (N.D. Cal. Mar. 22, 2011). See the motion to dismiss, the opposition and the reply. This ruling deals with the Second Amended Complaint. Levitt’s initial complaint. Cats & Dogs Animal Hospital’s first amended…
Photo Hosting Site Gets DMCA 512 Safe Harbor–Wolk v. Photobucket
By Eric Goldman Wolk v. Kodak Imaging Network, Inc., 2011 WL 940056 (S.D.N.Y. March 17, 2011) Wolk (is this her?) is a visual artist whose work was allegedly infringed on Photobucket. She sent some 512(c)(3) takedown notices to Photobucket, which…