CCPA Definitions Confuse the Judge in a Data Breach Case--In re Blackbaud

Blackbaud “provides data collection and maintenance software solutions for administration, fundraising, marketing, and analytics to social good entities such as non-profit organizations, foundations, educational institutions, faith communities, and healthcare organizations.” In a very unfortunate development, cybercriminals hacked into Blackbaud’s database…

Judge Rakoff: Embedding Social Media Content is a “Display” Under the Copyright Act

Paul Nicklen is a highly acclaimed nature photographer. He posted a video of an emaciated polar bear wandering the Canadian Arctic to his Facebook and Instagram accounts to sound the alarm on climate change. Nicklen “urged his social media followers…

Emoji Version Variations Help Identify Fabricated Evidence--Rossbach v. Montefiore Medical

Rossbach worked at Montefiore Medical Center. She claims her supervisor sexually harassed her and then the center retaliated against her. This screenshot is the evidentiary centerpiece of her claim: The last line is the court’s: “This image is a fabrication.”…

Satirical Depiction in YouTube Video Gets Rough Treatment in Court

Goodman made and posted a YouTube video called the “Crony Awards,” bestowing honors on countries that downplayed the COVID-19 virus. Because the court says Goodman’s company “traffics in wild conspiracy theories,” it’s likely the video actually celebrates countries for COVID…

An Initial Look at Washington's New Anti-SLAPP Statute

Washington’s anti-SLAPP statute was struck down by the Washington State Supreme Court in May 2015. Effective July 25, 2021, Washington has a new anti-SLAPP statute. My summary of the statute: Scope of coverage: The statute applies to causes of action…

Announcing the 2021 Edition of My Internet Law Casebook

I’m pleased to announce the 2021 edition of my Internet Law casebook, Internet Law: Cases & Materials. If I counted editions, this would be the 12th edition. The book is available as a PDF at Gumroad for $10, as a Kindle…

Instacart's Privacy Policy Protects Stripe from Consumer Privacy Claims--Silver v. Stripe

Instacart uses Stripe as a payment processor. Instacart purports to bind consumers to its privacy policy via this screen: (Sorry for the poor image resolution. This is what the court’s opinion had. The applicable disclosures are in the bottom right…

Interview About Section 230 and COVID Misinformation

[I did another interview with Mathew Ingram at Galley by CJR] Ingram: Eric, thanks very much for doing this. I know we’ve discussed Section 230 before on Galley, so I don’t want to go over old ground, but is there…

Blogger Defeats Defamation Claims--Buckley v. Moore

The plaintiff Buckley runs “Top Gun Options,” a site that purportedly teaches users how to trade options. The defendant Moore runs a blog called “TradingSchools.org,” which purportedly does independent reviews of investment products. Moore shot down Top Gun Options in…

A Summary of the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) [Excerpt from my Internet Law casebook]

[The 2021 edition of my Internet Law casebook is coming soon. This excerpt is a new note on the CCB. TL;DR: I’m not a fan.] Before mid-2022, the Copyright Office will deploy a new adjudicatory function called the Copyright Claims…