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 blog...
Michael Lindenberger examines the latest attempt to pass a state shield law.
Texas Moves Closer to Shielding Journalists, Bloggers' Protection Unclear
David Ardia reports on a new lawsuit involving speech on MySpace.
Woman Files Lawsuit Against Debt Collector Over Posting on MySpace
Sam Bayard notes progress on the federal shield bill.
House Passes Federal Shield Bill
Marc Randazza chides a web publisher for bringing a frivolous trademark claim.
Yes, You Should Have Hired a Trademark Attorney...
Sam Bayard discusses the first Twitter defamation lawsuit.
First Twitter Libel Suit, Starring Courtney Love
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
Ezzo v. Google
Posted Apr. 1, 2009
Knight-McConnell v. Cummins
Posted Mar. 31, 2009
Palazzo v. Willamette Week
Posted Mar. 31, 2009
Connolly v. Cirencione
Posted Mar. 31, 2009
Simorangkir v. Love
Posted Mar. 30, 2009
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Other citizen media law news...
Photography is Not a Crime - Thurs. 04/02/09
The Pay Dirt
The Washington Post - Thurs. 04/02/09
Maybe Litigation Isn't Always the Best Solution for a Gripe Site Target
CL&P Blog - Wed. 04/01/09
Texas House overwhelmingly passes state shield bill
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press - Wed. 04/01/09
Illinois Mulls Parental Consent For Social Networking
MediaPost - Wed. 04/01/09
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The full(er) Brief...
"Bloggers in the Lone Star State are being left out of a law that would
give journalists limited protection against subpoenas. The Texas House
has passed overwhelmingly a bill that would let Texas join some 36
other states in erecting a shield for journalists who want to keep
confidential information secret, even in the face of a subpoena. The
bill (read the committee analysis here) awaits a vote in the state
Senate, which voted last session to approve a similar bill, only to see
that bill die on a technicality in the House, according to Emily
Ramshaw of The Dallas Morning News. Texas' efforts are the latest in a
decades-long series of state actions attempting to sort out the mess
left by Branzburg v. Hayes, 408 U.S. 665 (1972), the Supreme Court case
that sided against a journalist from The Courier-Journal, but
nevertheless has been cited for more than 35 years as the source for
(at least some) constitutional protection for journalists. . . . The
law in Texas, should it pass the Senate, is good news for journalism.
But it's also just the latest example of how the profession is failing
to adapt to a fast-changing landscape, and doing so at its peril. . .
."
Michael Lindenberger, Texas Moves Closer to Shielding Journalists, Bloggers' Protection Unclear
"In what appears to be the first lawsuit related to debt collection activities on a social network, a Michigan woman is suing two debt collection agencies and their principals for violating the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act for, among other things, posting information about her indebtedness on her MySpace page. The lawsuit, filed on March 23, 2009, seeks damages in excess of $25,000 together with equitable and declaratory relief. According to her complaint, Paula Newland fell behind on her payments on a 2005 Chevy Impala in January 2009. Shortly thereafter, she alleges that the defendants began engaging in various harassing and abusive collection activities, including disclosing private information to her family, friends, and neighbors, publishing private information on her MySpace page, and threatening to 'camp out' in front of her home 'all weekend.' The complaint doesn't describe what the defendants allegedly posted on her MySpace page. . . ."
David Ardia, Woman Files Lawsuit Against Debt Collector Over Posting on MySpace
"Dave Aeikens at SPJ and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press report that last night the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 985, the House version of a federal shield law that would provide journalists a qualified privilege against disclosing the identity of sources and turning over information obtained or created in the course of newsgathering. According to the Reporters Committee, the bill passed by a 'voice vote under a suspension of the rules, a typical procedure used to pass non-controversial bills.' The text of the bill is the same as the 2007 version (H.R. 2102), which passed the House by a huge margin in October 2007, but failed to become law when its Senate counterpart died without a vote at the end of the legislative session. . . . Like its predecessor, H.R. 985 limits coverage of the shield law to journalists who make significant money from their activities . . . . As Michael Lindenberger recently noted, this limitation could be an obstacle to protection for 'many bloggers, student journalists and even those who freelance for magazines or papers that pay poorly.' . . ."
Sam Bayard, House Passes Federal Shield Bill
"Another day, another cautionary tale about how staying at a Holiday Inn Express doesn’t qualify you to practice law. Enter Jamil Ezzo, an enterprising Internet maven, who runs the website at www.LocatePlasticSurgeon.com. Mr. Ezzo decided that he should file for a federal trademark registration on his incredibly creative and original business name, 'Locate Plastic Surgeon,' and in an effort to give his fledgling new business venture a leg up over the wasteful spenders that were his cutthroat competition, he figured that he should forego hiring a lawyer to do it for him. Great plan, Jamil, except that any IP attorney who’s worth his salt would have told you that your proposed mark is pretty much worthless and you shouldn’t waste your time or money trying to protect it. . . . Mr. Ezzo took the 'advice' of his 'attorney' and registered his ultra-awesome mark on the Supplemental Register – whatever that is. Now he thinks he can stop anyone from using the phrase 'Locate Plastic Surgeon on the internet, and he has filed a complaint in the Middle District of Florida seeking to do just that.' . . ."
Marc Randazza, Yes, You Should Have Hired a Trademark Attorney...
"Twitter gets a lot of attention these days. In recent weeks, we've seen jurors twittering from the jury box, lawmakers twittering during Obama's first address to Congress, and celebrity ghost twitterers, to name just a few examples of the growing visibility of the micro-blogging platform. There's been enough hoopla for John Stewart to report the outbreak of a 'Twitter Frenzy.' While Stewart expresses mock luddite skepticism ('I have no idea how it works, or why it is'), the New York Times hails it as 'an important marketing tool for celebrities, politicians and businesses, promising a level of intimacy never before approached online, as well as giving the public the ability to speak directly to people and institutions once comfortably on a pedestal.' Now, at least as far as CMLP is concerned, Twitter has come of age. Why? Because Twitter has sparked its very first defamation lawsuit. (A colleague cleverer than me suggested we call it a 'twibel' claim.) Making a good story better, the first defendant to be sued for tweeting is not some egg-headed techie type, but loose-canon-rock-star Courtney Love. . . ."
Sam Bayard, First Twitter Libel Suit, Starring Courtney Love
