Section 230 Once Again Immunizes Google's Search Results--Metroka v. PA Law Enforcement

In June 2022, Nadia Metroka (a Florida lawyer, apparently) was arrested in Pennsylvania. “Information about the arrest was published on the Montgomery County Crimewatch website, and it was ‘picked up by GOOGLE’s search engine.’” (Is this the news release in…

Sad that Twitter Deplatformed Trump? Don't Take It to Court--Rutenberg v. Twitter

Maria Rutenberg apparently found Trump’s tweets so meaningful that she sued Twitter for deplatforming Trump and subtracting that meaning from her life. Rutenberg can now scratch her Trump itch at Truth Social, plus Musk has invited Trump back to Twitter….

Who Owns Social Media Accounts?--In re Bang Energy Drinks

The categorization of social media accounts into “business” and “personal” accounts was a hot issue a decade ago, when states across the country passed laws to protect employees from invasive employer demands to access or control their personal social media…

Class Certification Denied Over Rightsowners' Demands for Content ID Access--Schneider v. YouTube

The court summarizes the case: “plaintiffs allege that YouTube has violated the copyright laws by withholding broad access to Content ID….Plaintiffs also allege that YouTube automatically strips metadata out of uploaded videos, including copyright management information (CMI), which makes it…

TikTok outsources some of its content moderation/review to third-party BPOs (Atrium and Telus). Two BPO-employed reviewers claim they suffered psychological harm from their work. The lawsuit claims the BPOs were TikTok’s proxies. Allegedly: TikTok provided all “instructional” and “training” materials. …

More Thoughts about the SCOTUS Twitter and Google Rulings

[I did a media interview about last week’s Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google rulings. The transcript:] What got you into the field of internet law? What is most interesting in the field right now? I have been researching…

Competitive Keyword Ad Lawsuit Fails...Despite 236 Potentially Confused Customers--Lerner & Rowe v. Brown Engstrand

This case involves two rival personal injury law firms in Arizona, one of which engaged in competitive keyword advertising against the other. The court dismisses the lawsuit on summary judgment. The court focuses on the likelihood of consumer confusion. The…

Ill-Advised Attempt to Blow Up the DMCA Online Safe Harbors Unsurprisingly Fails--Athos v. YouTube

Athos owns the copyrights to many classic Mexican films. Users regularly upload its film clips to YouTube. These uploads have irritated Athos since 2014. However, Athos rejected YouTube’s fast-lane options for copyright owners (such as the Copyright Match Tool, Content…

Roundup of Recent Section 230 Developments

Sometimes the Section 230 developments come faster than I can blog ’em, so they pile up in my queue. This post cleans the queue. * * * A.M. v. Omegle.com, LLC, 2023 WL 1470269 (D. Ore. Feb. 2, 2023). A…

The Internet Survives SCOTUS Review (This Time)--Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google

Today was the 2023 Super Bowl of Internet Law at the U.S. Supreme Court [FN]. SCOTUS issued two eagerly awaited decisions in the Twitter v. Taamneh and Gonzalez v. Google cases (as well as decisions in the Warhol copyright fair…