Craigslist’s Anti-Consumer Lawsuit Threatens to Break Internet Law–Craigslist v. 3Taps/Padmapper (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Craigslist, Inc. v. 3Taps, Inc., 2013 WL 1819999 (N.D. Cal. April 30, 2013) Craigslist is one of the best examples of the Internet’s sharing economy. Craigslist improves markets by helping buyers and sellers find each other. Remarkably, it…
Yahoo’s User Agreement Fails in Battle Over Dead User’s Email Account–Ajemian v. Yahoo
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ajemian v. Yahoo!, 12-P-178 (Mass. Ct. App. May 7, 2013) This is a very interesting dispute that raises the question of ownership over digital assets after a person’s death. Plaintiffs, John Ajemian’s (the decedent’s) executors and…
First Sale Doctrine Doesn’t Allow Resale of Digital Songs – Capitol Records v. ReDigi
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc., 2013 WL 1286134 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2013) [There has been a recent whirlwind of copyright activity in the courts. We will try to get caught up…
Online Trespass to Chattels Needs Structural Reform (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In light of Aaron Swartz’s tragic suicide, there has been a lot of discussion–some productive, some not–about reforming the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (the “CFAA”). I support some of the reform proposals, but they don’t go…
The Supreme Court’s Kirtsaeng Ruling Is Good News for Consumers, but the First Sale Doctrine Is Still Doomed–Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, No. 11–697 (U.S. Supreme Court March 19, 2013). Prior blog post of the Second Circuit ruling in the case. In Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons ($JW-A), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled…
Facebook Posts and Twitter Invites Don’t Violate Non-Solicitation Clause — Pre-Paid Legal v. Cahill
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with a comment from Eric] Pre-Paid Legal Services v. Cahill, Civ-12-346-JHP (E.D. Ok. Jan. 22, 2013) Cahill was an associate of Pre-Paid Legal Services, described by the court as a multi-level marketing company. Cahill joined and…
Israeli Court Says Full-Text RSS Feeds Create an Implied Copyright License (Guest Blog Post)
By Guest Blogger Jonathan J. Klinger Aggregation of content through RSS feeds has been a big issue every since websites began to use RSS to distribute their content. See, e.g., Prof. Goldman’s discussion of the issue in 2005. Still, we…
Update: Facebook Countersues Profile Technology For Contract Breach–Facebook v. Profile Technology
By Jake McGowan [writings][LinkedIn] Facebook, Inc. v. Profile Technology, Ltd., C 13-0459 (N.D. Cal. complaint filed Feb. 1, 2013) Back in December, we blogged about a suit brought by Profile Technology against Facebook, alleging that Facebook had breached an agreement…
“Privacy Policies in the United States” Presentation Slides
By Eric Goldman I recently guest lectured on drafting privacy policies in the United States. My presentation slides. One of my big-picture takeaway points is that privacy laws and associated industry self-regulation have gotten so extensive that drafting privacy policies…
Court Definitively Rejects AFP’s Argument That Posting a Photo to Twitter Grants AFP a License to Freely Use It — AFP v. Morel
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] AFP v. Morel, 10 Civ. 02730 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 14, 2013) The court *finally* issued its ruling on the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment in AFP v. Morel, the Haiti photo case. Previous posts here and…