Q2 2015 Quick Links, Part 1 (IP, Marketing and More)
Copyright * The dominant media storyline about the Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match was the fight’s widespread illicit availability on the livestreaming apps Periscope and Meerkat. But this should have been the dominant storyline instead: An estimated 4.4 million viewers paid a…
Q4 2014 & Q1 2015 Quick Links Part 5 (Trademarks, Domain Names, Marketing)
Trademarks and Domain Names * TheDomains: .Sucks Releases Pricing With “Premiums” For Trademark Holders Up To $2,499 A Year. A pox on the .sucks operator and on ICANN for permitting this pricing scheme. ICANN wants federal regulators to declare the…
Company’s Social Media Accounts Transferred in Bankruptcy
This case addresses whether social media accounts used in connection with a business become property of the bankruptcy estate. The debtor, known as “Tactical Firearms,” was formed by Jeremy Alcede. Originally it was owned by Alcede and his then-wife, but…
Creditors Can’t Seize Country Code Top Level Domains
This is a ruling addressing plaintiffs’ ability to levy against a country code top level domain (TLD). Plaintiffs obtained judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Syrian Arab Republic. They sought to attach defendants’…
Announcing the Second Edition of “Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials” by Tushnet & Goldman
Rebecca Tushnet and I are pleased to announce the release of Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials, second edition (2014). It’s available at Gumroad as a $11.50 DRM-free download (PDF version / epub mobile device version) and other outlets….
Don’t Roll The Dice On Defamation Suits Against Gripe Sites, Especially In California–Ocean’s Eleven v. Anders
This case involves the now defunct website www.oceans11.info. There’s one archival version in Archive.org from 2012, though I found it confusing. The website was a gripe site created by Tim Anders (a/k/a “Dr. Hope“), a professional poker player. Anders protested…
![Court Declines to Review LRO to [.delmonte], Saying gTLDs Aren't 'Domain Names' for Cybersquatting Purposes](https://blog.ericgoldman.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Screen-Shot-2014-02-10-at-9.07.51-AM2-150x110.png)
Court Declines to Review LRO to [.delmonte], Saying gTLDs Aren’t ‘Domain Names’ for Cybersquatting Purposes
A Swiss Del Monte entity that had a license to use the “DEL MONTE” mark applies to operate the .delmonte generic top level domain (gTLD). Another Del Monte entity, based in Delaware, filed a “legal rights objection” (under WIPO-established procedures)…
Vague Takedown Notice Targeting Facebook Page Results in Possible Liability–CrossFit v. Alvies
Alvies ran a blog & community centered around CrossFit, a fitness program. CrossFit complainted about the name of the blog (crossfitmamas.blogspot.com). In addition to make demands to Alvies, a CrossFit paralegal talked to at least one reader, and decried Avlies’…
Federal Court in Virginia Court Says Domain Names Are Not Property, But Contractual Rights
Following the sex.com case from the Ninth Circuit, it is taken for granted that domain names are property that can be converted, sold, transferred, or subject to a creditor’s collection efforts. Interestingly, a federal district court in Virginia took a…
Ninth Circuit Kills Contributory ACPA Cybersquatting Doctrine–Petronas v. GoDaddy
A domain name registrant transferred the petronastower.net and petronastowers.net domain names into GoDaddy and used GoDaddy’s name forwarding service to direct them to (NSFW) canfunchat.com. Petronas asked GoDaddy to turn over the domain names to Petronas. GoDaddy declined. Petronas sued,…