Email That Says “Done .. thanks!” Doesn’t Transfer Copyrights – MVP Entertainment v. Frost
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] MVP Entertainment, Inc. v. Frost, B235100 (Ca. Ct. App. Nov. 7, 2012) [pdf] We enjoy cases where people negotiate or modify contracts via email or other modern methods of communication. The underlying rules haven’t changed, and…
Social Media Producer’s Counterclaims Based on Website Ownership Rejected – Ardis Health v. Nankivell
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ardis Health v. Nankivell, 11 Civ. 5013 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 23, 2012) One of the many social media ownership disputes we blogged about was Ardis Health v. Nankivell, where a company sought, among other things, social media…
How Zappos’ User Agreement Failed In Court and Left Zappos Legally Naked (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman In re Zappos.com Inc., Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, 2012 WL 4466660 (D. Nev. Sept. 27, 2012). In January, Zappos (part of $AMZN) announced a massive data security breach affecting 24 million consumers. As typically happens in these…
Google Gets Unwanted Ruling in AdWords Trademark Lawsuit–CYBERsitter v. Google
By Eric Goldman CYBERsitter LLC v. Google, Inc., 2012 WL 5873650 (C.D. Cal. Oct. 24, 2012) This is one of three remaining trademark lawsuits against Google for AdWords. The other two pending suits are Rosetta Stone and Home Decor Center;…
A Reward Offer Still An Offer, Even if It’s Made on YouTube – Augstein v. Ryan Leslie
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani, with comments from Eric] Augstein v. Leslie, 2012 WL 4928914 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 17, 2012). As the post’s title implies, this case is about a reward offer that the plaintiff is trying to enforce. Ryan Leslie, a…
Sony Network Data Breach Class Action Suffers Setback — In re Sony Gaming Networks
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] In re Sony Gaming Networks and Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, 2012 WL 4849054 (S.D. Cal.; Oct. 11, 2012) This is a class action arising out of a hack of Sony’s online gaming network. The hacks…
Second Circuit Says Arbitration Clause in Terms Emailed After-the-Fact Not Enforceable – Schnabel v. Trilegiant
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] Schnabel v. Trilegiant, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18875 (2d Cir.; Sept. 7, 2012) Eric recently blogged at Forbes about a terms of service gaffe by Zappos that prevented Zappos from being able…
Lovelorn Plaintiffs Strike Out Against Match.com – Robinson v. Match.com
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Robinson v. Match.com, 10-CV-2651-L (N.D. Tex. Aug. 10, 2012) [pdf] This is another suit brought by users of a dating site who claim that a dating site deceptively leaves inactive users in its system, thus reducing…
Another Blow to Banks in ACH Fraud Cases: Funds Transfers Act Preempts Indemnity Agreements — Choice Escrow v. BancorpSouth
[Post by Jake McGowan] Choice Escrow and Land Title, LLC v. BancorpSouth Bank, 10-03531 (W.D. Miss. Aug. 20, 2012) Asharkyu / Shutterstock.com Last month, we blogged about Patco v. Ocean Bank, where the First Circuit held that the bank may…
Fight Over Access to Log-in Credentials for Blog Does not Trigger Copyright Preemption – Insynq v. Mann
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments by Eric] Insynq, Inc. v. Mann, 3:12-cv-05464 RBL (W.D. Wash.; Aug. 29, 2012) Insynq is an application service provider that “provides virtual desktops and remotely hosts applications for accountants and small business owners.” Mann…