Section 230 Covers Republication of Old Yearbooks–Callahan v. Ancestry
Ancestry.com publishes 450,000 old yearbooks in the form of 730M records that contain, at least, “the person’s name, photograph, school name, yearbook year, and city or town (at the time of the yearbook).” Ancestry doesn’t disclose how it acquires the…
IP Lawsuits Against Print-on-Demand Vendors Continue to Vex the Courts–OSU v. Redbubble & More
[This post covers three recent print-on-demand cases. After the Ohio State writeup, keep reading for more fun and confusion.] Redbubble operates in the print-on-demand industry, but it’s adopted a different organizational structure than some of its competitors. Redbubble outsources manufacturing…
Facebook Isn’t Liable for Account Hack/Hijack–Damner v. Facebook
This is a pro se lawsuit. Damner claims his Facebook account was hacked in April 2020 and the hacker(s) took it over. He notified Facebook but allegedly it never responded. Damner sued Facebook for Stored Communications Act claims and others….
YouTube Defeats Lawsuit Over Cryptocurrency Scam–Ripple v. YouTube
Ripple Labs developed a cryptocurrency called XRP. Scammers phished verified YouTube accounts and then used the hijacked accounts to post YouTube videos–seemingly from Ripple–inducing consumers to transfer their XRP, where they were stolen. YouTube allegedly responded to takedown notices slowly….
Section 230 Applies to Publicity Rights Claim–Hepp v. Facebook
Karen Hepp is a TV show host on the Fox 29 channel in Philadelphia. (No “Karen” jokes, please). She claims that “a photograph of her taken by a security camera in a convenience store in New York City was being…
Ninth Circuit Reinstates Decade-Old Lawsuit Against Facebook For Tracking Logged-Out Users–In re Facebook Internet Tracking
Users sued Facebook in 2012 alleging it improperly tracked users’ browsing while they were logged out of Facebook. Facebook apparently included code in its “like” button on third party websites that would inform Facebook when the user visited the website…
Section 230 Doesn’t Protect Advertising “Background Reports” on People–Lukis v. Whitepages
Whitepages compiles and generates “background reports” on people, remixing content from a database of public and private records that allegedly incorporates 2B+ records/month. In response to searches on people’s names, Whitepages provides free previews, such as this one included in…
Videogame Can Replicate Musician’s “Signature Move” (Unless It’s a False Endorsement, Which It Isn’t)–Pellegrino v. Epic Games
Pellegrino is a saxophone player with “externally rotatable feet,” which has helped him develop a nifty “signature” dance move while playing. The videogame Fortnite sells “emotes,” optional customizations for players’ digital avatars. Pellegrino alleges that the “Phone It In” emote…
Yelp Defeats Businesses’ “Right to Be Forgotten” Claims—Spiegelman v. Yelp
The plaintiffs sued Yelp for using their business information, including their names, photographs and likenesses, without permission. Though the opinion doesn’t expressly state it, it appears these plaintiffs were seeking to get delisted from Yelp’s databases, which is why I’m…
Ninth Circuit Declines to Shelve Lawsuit Alleging Facebook Violated Illinois Biometric Privacy Statute
Illinois enacted a biometric privacy statute which restricted the collection of biometric identifiers. Plaintiffs, Illinois residents and Facebook users, alleged that Facebook violated this statute by collecting, storing, and processing their face-scans without their consent and without establishing the requisite…