A Religious Organization is Suing its Critics, and the Weapon of Choice is Copyright—RRT v. Cheryl Bawtinheimer (Guest Blog Post)
By guest blogger Cathay Y. N. Smith, Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law Rapid Relief Team (RRT), the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), has…
Another Reminder: Lawsuits Over Competitive Keyword Ads Are Stupid
This case involves two competitors that buy homes for cash: plaintiff Brothers Buy Homes and defendant John Buys Bay Area Homes. The defendant bought competitive keyword ads. Initially, the defendant…
Photobucket’s Attempted TOS Amendment Mostly Fails–Pierce v. Photobucket
Photobucket is a venerable photo hosting service whose best days are far behind it. In 2017, its management imploded the service by imposing above-market hosting fees. Most users stopped using…
SAD Scheme Copyright Plaintiff Must Compensate Defendants–Shenzhen Langmi v. Schedule A Defendants
Shenzhen Langmi Technology is a Chinese-based vendor of cosmetics and hair products. It claims that the defendants used its copyrights as part of their products. Initially, it sued 36 defendants,…
A “But They’re ‘Counterfeiters’!” Argument Doesn’t Clinch a SAD Scheme TRO–Emojico v. Schedule A Defendants
I blog SAD Scheme cases when they catch my attention, not necessarily because they are the most consequential ones. I’m blogging this one mostly out of schadenfreude. Emojico–the company that…
Ninth Circuit Allows TOS Amendment by Email–Ireland-Gordy v. Tile
[This is a non-precedential opinion, and the court unhelpfully cuts many factual and doctrinal corners.] The plaintiffs claim that bad actors misused Tile’s tracking devices to stalk them. The plaintiffs…
Catching Up on Some Social Media Addiction Rulings
The KGM bellwether trial is continuing in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, this post rounds up three related developments that are taking place outside the media spotlight. Snap, Inc. v. Eighth Judicial…
Free-Trial Commercial Database Defeats Publicity Rights Claim–LaFleur v. Yardi
Two preliminary notes: 1) This opinion is by a TAFS judge (Trump-appointed, Federalist Society). 2) The right of publicity doctrine is incoherent, and this opinion illustrates that. * * *…
If You Don’t Keep Good Records, Don’t Be Surprised if Your TOS Formation Fails in Court–White v. PayPal
“Plaintiffs allege that Honey “misrepresents its ability to find the ‘best discount codes’ for consumers” and instead “prioritizes coupon codes from Honey’s partner merchants,” giving users “inferior discounts, or no…
Section 230 Preempts Lawsuit Over Unwanted Gmail Spam–Dor v. Google
The plaintiff, Francesse Senat Dor: asserts that Google’s spam filter failed to block abusive, spoofed, and spam emails from reaching her Gmail account. She says that reading these emails caused…