Buying Keyword Ads on People’s Names Doesn’t Violate Their Publicity Rights–Habush v. Cannon (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Habush v. Cannon, 2013 WL 627251 (Wisc. App. Ct. Feb. 21, 2013) Can you imagine someone buying Google ($GOOG) AdWords keyword advertising triggered by your name? Most of us wouldn’t dream of it, usually because our names just…
Lindsay Lohan Loses Publicity Rights Claim Against Pitbull Over Song Lyrics–Lohan v. Perez
By Jake McGowan [writings][LinkedIn] Lohan v. Perez, No. 11-CV-5413 (E.D.N.Y. 2013) Lindsay Lohan just can’t catch a break. In 2007, after a string of unsuccessful movies and a long battle with substance abuse, Lohan found herself on probation for two…
Telephone Consumer Protection Act Case Update – February 2013 Edition
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Birchmeier v. Econ. Strategy Group, 12 C 4069 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 28, 2012): This was a putative class action filed against Economic Strategy Group and Caribbean Cruise Line. Plaintiff alleges that defendants made calls to their…
With Its Australian Court Victory, Google Moves Closer to Legitimizing Keyword Advertising Globally (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Google’s ($GOOG) keyword advertising program, AdWords, has been subject to constant legal challenges for the past decade. After an initial period of legal uncertainty, AdWords’ legal fortunes recently have brightened in the United States and Europe. Earlier this…
Another Google AdWords Advertiser Avoids Trademark Liability–Whipple v. Brigman
By Eric Goldman Whipple v. Brigman, 2013 WL 566817 (W.D. N.C. Feb. 13, 2013) I’ve repeatedly said that trademark lawsuits over Google AdWords advertising rarely make financial sense. This case would clearly support that proposition, except both parties proceeded pro…
Yelp Defeats Legal Challenge to Its User Review Filter (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman Demetriades v. Yelp, Case No.: BC484055 (Cal. Superior Ct. Jan. 25, 2013). Some supporting documents: * Yelp’s anti-SLAPP motion to strike * Demetriades’s opposition * Yelp’s reply Yelp ($YELP) uses an automated review filter to suppress some user reviews…
Why You Should Consider Teaching Advertising Law (Including Comments from Felix Wu of Cardozo)
By Eric Goldman This semester I’m teaching Advertising & Marketing Law again. My syllabus. I’ve written before about the course and my casebook reader with Rebecca Tushnet. In this post, I’d like to recap some remarks I made in a…
Top Ten Internet Law Developments of 2012 (Forbes Cross-Post)
By Eric Goldman I’m pleased to share my list of top 10 developments of 2012: #10: The Push Towards Anti-Class Action Arbitration Clauses. In 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion that businesses may be able to adopt mandatory…
Q4 2012 Quick Links, Part 2 (Privacy, Advertising, Content)
By Eric Goldman Privacy/Security * Knowing how the FTC is cracking down on privacy violations and deceptive persuasion techniques, it’s a little jarring to see how aggressive Obama’s campaign was on both fronts. NY Times (1, 2), WSJ and Time….
Google’s Privacy Policy Integration Initially Defeats Legal Challenge — In re Google Privacy Policy Litigation
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with comments from Eric] In re Google, Inc. Privacy Policy Litigation, C 12-01382 PSG (N.D. Cal.; Dec. 28, 2012) In a decision that should be closely watched by the Instagram plaintiffs who are complaining about Instagram’s…