By Guest Blogger Tyler Ochoa In Sohm v. Scholastic, Inc., 959 F.3d 39 (2d Cir. 2020), a Second Circuit panel held that “the discovery rule applies for statute of limitations purposes in determining when a copyright infringement claim accrues under the…

The EARN IT Act Has Gotten Even More Terrible. So Of Course It's Moving Forward

[February 8, 2022 update: EARN IT is back and worse than ever. The current draft has an inferior version of the Leahy Amendment. Otherwise, this post remains current.] I previously blogged the EARN IT Act (S.3398) in February and March….

IAP Defeats Vicarious Copyright Infringement Claim--UMG v. Bright House

In a good ruling for Internet access providers (IAPs), a court said that the IAP Bright House wasn’t vicariously liable for its users’ copyright infringing activity because the IAP lacked a direct financial benefit. The court says that the legal…

While Our Country Is Engulfed By Urgent Must-Solve Problems, Congress Is Working Hard to Burn Down Section 230

This post will be unusually blunt about my disenchantment with the state of our country, a topic I don’t normally discuss on the blog. Some of you will not like this post. I expect my next post will feel more…

Comments on the Internet Association's Empirical Study of Section 230 Cases

Elizabeth Banker of the Internet Association has posted “A Review Of Section 230’S Meaning & Application Based On More Than 500 Cases.” This complements Prof. David Ardia’s comprehensive empirical study of Section 230 caselaw from a decade ago. It’s great…

Data Center Avoids Copyright Liability By Forwarding DMCA Notices to Its Customer--ALS Scan v. Steadfast

Steadfast operates data centers. Imagebam is one of its customers. Imagebam provides image hosting services. Allegedly, Imagebam has “become an unauthorized hub of copyrighted adult material.” ALS Scan, which owns many copyrights in pornographic works, sent Steadfast DMCA takedown notices…

Plaintiff Can't Use Trump's Anti-Section 230 EO to Sue Facebook--Gomez v. Zuckenburg

This pro se/in pro per plaintiff sued Facebook because he couldn’t log into his account or open a new one. The plaintiff claimed Facebook violated Trump’s anti-Section 230 executive order, EO 13295, Preventing Online Censorship, 85 Fed. Reg. 34079 (May…

Section 230 Doesn't Protect Repeating Rumors--La Liberte v. Reid

La Liberte spoke at a city council meeting. A photo of her speaking went viral because a “social media activist” posted the photo with a caption that she said racist things about a minority teenager in the photo. That turned…

Geotagged Social Media Posts Didn't Support Personal Jurisdiction--Court of Master Sommeliers v. Pilkey

The plaintiff runs certification programs for beverage experts. The highest certification is “master sommelier,” earned normally only by less than 10 people a year. In Sept. 2018, a record 24 candidates earned the certification. It turns out an insider leaked…

Last month, Sens. Schatz and Thune introduced S. 4066, “Platform Accountability and Consumer Transparency Act” (the “PACT Act”). The bill was pitched as a narrow and modest bipartisan reform of Section 230; and Daphne Keller of Stanford labeled the bill…