Welcome to the Citizen Media Law Brief, a weekly newsletter highlighting recent blog posts, media law news, legal threat entries, and other new content on the Citizen Media Law Project's website. You are receiving this email because you have expressed interest in the CMLP or registered on our site, www.citmedialaw.org. If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, you can unsubscribe by following the link at the bottom of this email or by going to http://www.citmedialaw.org/newsletter/subscriptions.

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The latest from the Citizen Media Law Project...

Wendy Seltzer looks at the copyright issues behind a recent YouTube takedown request.
Here Comes Another Takedown

David Ardia assesses the FOIA Reform Bill.
Congress Passes FOIA Reform Bill, Expands Definition of "News Media"

David Ardia looks at the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against Avvo.com, a site rating lawyers.
Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Against Lawyer Rating Site Avvo.com

Sam Bayard points to the dismissal of an Internet defamation lawsuit under California's anti-SLAPP statute.
Eagle Broadband v. Mould: Another Internet Defamation Suit Dismissed as SLAPP

Sam Bayard evaluates a court's refusal to use the DMCA to unmask a potential defamation defendant.
Court Rejects Bid to Use DMCA to Bypass First Amendment Protection for Anonymous Speech

David Ardia explains CDA 230's immunity for third-party content.
Primer on Immunity -- and Liability -- for Third-Party Content Under Section 230 of Communications Decency Act

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Other citizen media law news...

Your tax dollars at work
Likelihood of Confusion - Fri. 12/21/07

Apple Fan Site Shuts Down As Part of Lawsuit Settlement
WSJ Law Blog - Thurs. 12/20/07

Guitar Hero Rocks On
The Patry Copyright Blog - Thurs. 12/20/07

Shout out to the Copyright Office!
Silicon Valley Media Law Blog - Tues. 12/18/07

Iran - 24 Internet cafes closed and 23 arrests as government steps up online crackdown
Reporters Without Borders - Mon. 12/17/07

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

In re Douglas McCullough YouTube Video
Posted December 21st, 2007

Browne v. Avvo Inc.
Posted December 19th, 2007

Center for Public Integrity v. U.S. Dept. Health and Human Servs.
Posted December 19th, 2007

Eagle Broadband v. Mould
Posted December 18th, 2007

Melaleuca v. 43SB.COM, LLC
Posted December 17th, 2007

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The full(er) Brief...

"Earlier this month, comedy group The Richter Scales released a funny music video, "Here Comes Another Bubble." The video showed a montage of Silicon Valley images over a sound-track adapted from Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," lampooning the Web 2.0 bubble that seems near bursting again. The video must have touched a nerve, as well as a funny bone, because it got wide linkage and discussion and became the week's top-rated video. Then, it was removed from YouTube, 'due to a copyright claim by a third party.'"
Wendy Seltzer, Here Comes Another Takedown

"Earlier this week, Congress passed a bill that substantially reforms the Freedom of Information Act and expands the definition of who is a 'representative of the news media' under the Act. The bill, entitled the 'Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National Government Act' or, more succinctly, the 'OPEN Government Act of 2007,' passed unanimously in the Senate last week and cleared the House of Representatives by voice vote on Tuesday. One of the most striking changes in the bill would significantly benefit bloggers and non-traditional journalists by making them eligible for reduced processing and duplication fees that are available to 'representatives of the news media.'"
David Ardia, Congress Passes FOIA Reform Bill, Expands Definition of "News Media"

"Yesterday, a federal judge in Washington dismissed a class action lawsuit filed by two prominent lawyers in Seattle against Avvo Inc., the operator of Avvo.com, a website that profiles and rates lawyers and allows users to submit reviews of lawyers they have worked with. Plaintiffs also sued Mark Britton, Avvo's CEO, and 25 anonymous 'John Doe' users of the site. By filing a class action lawsuit, the two lawyers are disputing not only their own rankings on the site, which they claim are unreasonably low, but are also challenging the accuracy and validity of the mathematical algorithm used by Avvo to rate and compare attorneys."
David Ardia, Judge Dismisses Class Action Lawsuit Against Lawyer Rating Site Avvo.com

"It's been a busy month or so for the California anti-SLAPP statute (Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 425.16). In late October, a California trial court granted Perez Hilton's motion to strike in Ronson v. Lavandeira. More recently, another court granted the anti-SLAPP motion of Richard Silverstein and Joel Beinin in the poltically charged case, Neuwirth v. Silverstein. Adding to this list, last Friday, in Eagle Broadband v. Mould, 2007 WL 4358515 (Cal. Ct. App. Dec. 14, 2007), a California appellate court upheld the trial court's grant of Thomas Mould's motion to strike pursuant to the anti-SLAPP statute and reversed the trial court's denial of Richard Williams's similar motion. The appellate court also affirmed the trial court's award of approximately $65,000 in attorney's fees to Mould pursuant to the statute."
Sam Bayard, Eagle Broadband v. Mould: Another Internet Defamation Suit Dismissed as SLAPP

"This weekend I came accross a recent case, In re Subpoena Issued Pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to: 43SB.COM, LLC, 2007 WL 4335441 (D. Idaho Dec. 7, 2007). The decision came down earlier this month, but I hadn't read anything about it until now, which is surpising because it is a veritable smörgåsbord of some of our favorite topics -- anonymity, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and lawyers threatening to sue for copyright infringement of their cease-and-desist letters. The case provides a clear example of a party attempting to use the controversial 'administrative subpoena' provision of the DMCA (found at 17 U.S.C § 512(h)) to circumvent the safeguards imposed by courts before ordering disclosure of the identity of an anonymous poster in defamation cases. Fortunately, the federal district court in Idaho rejected this gambit, although overall its decision leaves something to be desired."
Sam Bayard, Court Rejects Bid to Use DMCA to Bypass First Amendment Protection for Anonymous Speech

"As a lead up to the launch of the Citizen Media Law Project's Legal Guide in January, we'll be putting up longer, substantive blog posts on various subjects covered in the guide. This first post in the series stems from a talk I gave at the Legal Risk Management in the Web 2.0 World conference in Washington, DC. As the token academic, I had the task of providing a general overview of the liability that publishers might face if they allow users to comment on or submit content to their sites. I've adapted this post from that talk."
David Ardia, Primer on Immunity -- and Liability -- for Third-Party Content Under Section 230 of Communications Decency Act