Displaying Emoji Evidence in Judicial Opinions
This is another outtake from my Emojis and the Law paper. I’m nearly done with a massive rewrite of the paper, and this passage appears destined for the cutting-room floor. So I’m sharing it here: ___ Judicial opinions rarely provide…
Frequency of Courts’ References to Emojis and Emoticons Over Time
[This is another excerpt from my Emojis and the Law paper.] In preparing the article, I gathered a dataset of all cases I could find in Westlaw and Lexis containing the word “emoticon” or “emoji.” This dataset is subject to…
How a Chipmunk Emoji Cost an Israeli Texter $2,200
by Gabriella Ziccarelli and Eric Goldman [Eric’s introduction: Gabriella is a star SCU Law alum and an associate at Blank Rome in DC. She is also a former Internet Law student of mine. As a teacher, it’s gratifying to have a former student…
Revisiting the Discoverability of Facebook Account Activity–Gordon v. TGR
The facts of this case are fairly typical. The plaintiff was hit by a truck. She sued the truck company and driver. In discovery, the defendants requested that she “download and produce an electronic copy of your Facebook account history”…
New Draft Paper on Emojis and the Law
I have posted a draft article, entitled Surveying the Law of Emojis, to SSRN. I will be posting excerpts from the article here over the next few weeks. I would gratefully appreciate your comments on the draft. I am also…
Texas Supreme Court Is Skeptical About Wikipedia as a Dictionary–D Magazine v. Rosenthal
This is an interesting opinion from the Texas Supreme Court on citing Wikipedia as a dictionary. The underlying case involves an article in D Magazine titled “The Park Cities Welfare Queen.” The article purports to show that the plaintiff, Rosenthal,…
2H 2016 Quick Links, Part 11 (Social Media, Harassment, E-Discovery & More)
Social Media * US v. Elonis, 2016 WL 6310803 (3d Cir. Oct. 28, 2016). Anthony Elonis’ conviction for criminal threats was once again upheld: Considering the graphic nature of the three messages Elonis posted in October, it is not at…
How Will Courts Handle A “Poor Man’s Copyright”?
I recently came across a complaint (in Vernon v. CBS) referencing a “poor man’s copyright,” and I couldn’t recall seeing the term in a legal filing or document before. This made me curious about whether any courts had discussed the…
Federal Court Rejects Online Gambling Lawsuit Against Valve–McLeod v. Valve
This lawsuit alleged that Valve “allowed an illegal online gambling market” based on its videogame Counter Strike Global Offensive (CSGO) and its Steam platform, an online marketplace where players can buy and sell virtual items and make payments. This lawsuit…
Federal Court Authorizes Service of Process via Twitter
Federal courts have long authorized service via email under Rule 4(f) for foreign defendants. The rule says that an individual in a foreign country can be served by (1) internationally agreed upon means such as the Hague Convention; (2) if…