Facebook “Sponsored Stories” Publicity Rights Lawsuit Survives Motion to Dismiss–Fraley v. Facebook
By Eric Goldman Fraley v. Facebook, Inc., 2011 WL 6303898 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 16, 2012) Because Facebook does so many things that aren’t in users’ interests, their “Sponsored Stories” program barely registers. Nevertheless, Sponsored Stories demonstrates why many people are…
Employee’s Claims Against Employer for Unauthorized Use of Social Media Accounts Move Forward–Maremont v. SF Design Group
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Maremont v. Susan Fredman Design Group, Ltd., et al., 10 C 7811 (N.D. Ill.; Dec. 7, 2011) I blogged about a case earlier this year where a plaintiff sued her former employer for improperly accessing the…
Court Awards Damages for Wrongful Disruption of Web Presence — Ordonez v. Icon Sky Holdings
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Ordonez v. Icon Sky Holdings LLC, 10-cv-60156-PAS (S.D. Fla. Aug. 30, 2011) This was another dispute involving two parties who jockeyed for control of an online presence. I guess you could say that one “jacked” the…
Publicity Rights Class Action Against Facebook Over Promotion of ‘Friend Finder’ Service Dismissed — Cohen v. Facebook
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Cohen v. Facebook, Inc., C10-5282, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124506 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 27, 2011) This is a putative class action against Facebook for “promoting its ‘friend finder’ feature by disclosing to users that their Facebook…
Gilbert Arenas’ Tweets Sinks His Motion to Enjoin “The Basketball Wives” — Arenas v. Shed Media
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Arenas v. Shed Media, CV 11-05279 (C.D. Cal.; Aug 22, 2011) Arenas is a basketball player for the Orlando Magic. He goes by various nicknames, including “Agent Zero, Agent Arenas, and Hibachi.” Arenas and Laura Govan…
Marijuana Activist Can’t Change His Name to “NJWeedman.com” — In re Forchion
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani with additional comments by guest blogger Laura Heymann and Eric] [Eric’s note: this may be our first post with *three* different bloggers covering the same case! Venkat starts us off:] In re Robert Edward Forchion, Jr.,…
Bev Stayart Racks Up Two More Losses–Stayart v. Yahoo and Stayart v. Google
By Eric Goldman Stayart v. Yahoo, Inc., 2011 WL 3625242 (E.D. Wis. Aug. 17, 2011) Stayart v. Google Inc., 2:10-cv-00336-LA (E.D. Wis. Aug. 17, 2011) Persistence is a virtue, but sometimes, enough is enough. You probably remember Bev Stayart as…
TheDirty Defeats Publicity Rights Claims–Gauck v. Karamian
By Eric Goldman Gauck v. Karamian, 2011 WL 3273123 (W.D.Tenn. July 29, 2011) TheDirty.com has an increasingly active litigation docket. This case comes from Lauren Lee Gauck Giovanetti, a TV news reporter for Fox 13 in Memphis, Tennessee. She sued…
Court Smacks Down Koch Industries’ Attempt to Shut Down Satirical Website — Koch Industries v. Does
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Koch Industries, Inc. v. Does, 10CV1275DAK (D. Utah; May 9, 2011) [.pdf] [This is one of those cases that I intended to cover when it came out, but it got lost in the shuffle. Eric talks…
NJ Appeals Court: No Privacy Violation When Spouse Uses GPS to Track Vehicle — Villanova v. Innovative Investigations, Inc.
[Post by Venkat Balasubramani] Villanova v. Innovative Investigations, Inc., et al., A-0654-10T2 (N.J. Ct. App. July 7, 2011) A New Jersey appeals court decided that a wife’s use of a GPS device to track her husband’s movements did not violate…