New Jersey Attorney Ethics Opinion Blesses Competitive Keyword Advertising (…or Does It?)

In 2016, the Texas Bar issued an opinion decisively blessing competitive keyword advertising by lawyers. (Note: I define competitive keyword advertising as buying a rival’s name/brand as the trigger for ads without displaying the name/brand in the ad copy). At…

Another Competitive Keyword Advertising Lawsuit Fails--Dr. Greenberg v. Perfect Body Image

Another Competitive Keyword Advertising Lawsuit Fails–Dr. Greenberg v. Perfect Body Image

Dr. Stephen Greenberg is a plastic surgeon on Long Island. Perfect Body Image provides “non-surgical and non-invasive aesthetic services, including, among other things, laser treatments.” Perfect Body doesn’t have any doctors on staff. In addition to Stephen, at least two…

Facebook Defeats Pro Se Consumer Privacy Suit–Hassan v. Facebook

This is a pro se privacy lawsuit by 4 longtime Facebook users (from 2007-09). It covers a lot of the same topics as the dozens of pending privacy class action lawsuits against Facebook. Not surprisingly, as a pro se suit,…

Vermont Supreme Court Dismisses Nonconsensual Pornography Prosecution–State v. VanBuren

Last year, the Vermont Supreme Court upheld Vermont’s sui generis crime of nonconsensual pornography dissemination (13 V.S.A. § 2606) from a facial constitutional challenge. This ruling was surprising because the court said that the law didn’t fit into any of…

The Florida Bar Regulates, But Doesn’t Ban, Competitive Keyword Ads

The Florida Bar has a drama-filled history regarding the regulation of competitive keyword advertising by lawyers. This post explains the background. In 2013, the bar was poised to ban competitive keyword ads, but at the last minute it did a…

An Email Inbox Isn’t a “Place” for Purposes of Florida Privacy Law–Hall v. Sargeant

One of the most venerable cyberlaw questions: is cyberspace a physical place, and does it matter legally? For purposes of Florida’s privacy invasion law, a federal district court answers: no and yes. This case involves long-running litigation and drama between…

Online Marketplace Defeats Trademark Suit Because It's Not the "Seller"--OSU v. Redbubble

Online Marketplace Defeats Trademark Suit Because It’s Not the “Seller”–OSU v. Redbubble

Redbubble is an online marketplace for artists. It outsources many of its functions. Its artist-vendors “are automatically connected with a third-party manufacturer to make the goods.” Redbubble also uses third-party services to package/ship goods and process payments. It appears much…

More Kardashian Drama: A Legal Fight Over Ownership of the Kimoji Emoji Set--Liebensohn v. Kardashian (Guest Blog Post)

More Kardashian Drama: A Legal Fight Over Ownership of the Kimoji Emoji Set–Liebensohn v. Kardashian (Guest Blog Post)

by guest blogger Gabriella Ziccarelli [Eric’s introductory note: I have made a personal life choice to ignore the entire Kardashian enterprise and their constant and often faux drama (except that I have occasionally mocked the Kardashians in my law school…

Tweet Containing Question Mark Isn't Defamatory--Boulger v. Woods

Tweet Containing Question Mark Isn’t Defamatory–Boulger v. Woods

In 2016, the Chicago Tribune published a photo of a woman giving a Nazi salute at a Trump rally. Twitter user @voxday wrongly identified the plaintiff as that woman. Shortly afterwards, actor James Woods, who then had 350,000 twitter users,…

2H 2018 Quick Links, Part 6 (IP, E-Commerce, Censorship, & More)

Intellectual Property * Daniel v. FanDuel (Ind. Oct. 24, 2018): “online fantasy sports operators that condition entry to contests on payment and distribute cash prizes do not violate the Indiana right of publicity statute when those organizations use the names, pictures,…