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...
Matt Sanchez reports on a trademark dispute involving everyone's favorite microblogging service, Twitter.
Restaurant Girl Parody Leads to Twitter Trademark Tussle
Sam Bayard analyzes blogger Shellee Hale's claim to protection under New Jersey's shield law.
Blogger Invokes New Jersey Shield Law To Protect Sources
Sam Bayard reports on the largest jury verdict in the CMLP's legal threats database.
$12.5 Million Jury Verdict in Texas Internet Defamation Case
David Ardia raises questions about a court's cursory treatment of section 230 immunity.
StubHub Unsuccesfully Invokes Section 230 Defense in Lawsuit by New England Patriots
Matt Sanchez comments on two recent instances of IP overreaching.
Whatever Happened to Playing Fair?
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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...
Orix v. Predatorix
Posted April 22, 2009
Joyner v. Lazzareschi
Posted April 22, 2009
New Jersey v. Jane Doe
Posted April 21, 2009
Grogan v. Hilliard
Posted April 21, 2009
Barnes v. Yahoo
Posted April 21, 2009
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Other citizen media law news...
Pushing the Supreme Court Toward Transparency
The Blog of Legal Times - Thurs. 4/23/09
Wikipedia Art Dispute Pits Artists Against Wikimedia Foundation
Ars Technica - Thurs. 4/23/09
Michael Savage Takedown Letter Might Violate 512(f) -- Brave New Media v. Weiner
Technology & Marketing Law Blog - Thurs. 4/23/09
Dissent Made Safer
MIT Technology Review -Wed. 4/22/09
Who Is To Blame For Bogus DMCA Takedowns?
Copyrights & Campaigns - Tues. 4/21/09
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The full(er) Brief...
"Celebrities and popular artists, like other public figures, face a tough road if they want to sue someone for making fun of them. Many know that fair use places a high legal burden on authors and artists who bring copyright claims against those who parody them or their work. Lesser known -- but equally important -- is that parodies receive strong protection against trademark claims as well. The New York Times has an excellent recent example of a weak trademark claim that probably will result in nothing other than wider dissemination of the parody. Last week Danyelle Freeman, an author and restaurant critic for the New York Daily News who runs the Restaurant Girl Blog, had her lawyers send a cease-and-desist letter to the operator of an unflattering parody blog and Twitter feed. Adam Robb Rucinsky writes the Gourmet Glossary Blog and Restaurantgirl Twitter feed in the guise of a faux-Freeman, lampooning both her conversational writing style and her (alleged) lack of expertise. . . ."
Matt Sanchez, Restaurant Girl Parody Leads to Twitter Trademark Tussle
"NJ.com reports that blogger Shellee Hale is asking a Monmouth County Superior Court judge to protect the identity of her anonymous sources, claiming that she is entitled to the same protection as a professional journalist. Hale was sued for defamation by New Jersey-based Too Much Media, LLC, a software company that services the online adult entertainment business. According to NJ.com: 'Hale's legal troubles began last year when she posted comments relating to a software security breach at the Monmouth County company on a message board frequented by those in the adult entertainment industry. She said the breach potentially could have given hackers access to names and addresses of account holders. Company officials said consumer information, including credit card numbers, was never compromised.' The record is not entirely clear from the press accounts, but it appears that Too Much Media is seeking the identity of Hale's sources as part of its lawsuit against her, and that Hale has invoked New Jersey's journalist shield law to block disclosure. Among state shield laws, New Jersey's statute is relatively favorable for bloggers like Hale. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Blogger Invokes New Jersey Shield Law To Protect Sources
"In February, a Texas jury awarded Orix Capital Markets, LLC $12.5 million in damages in a defamation case involving statements published on the cleverly named 'gripe site' Predatorix.com. (The site is now disabled, but the curious can check it out on Internet Archive.) We are a little late reporting this, but thought it merited a post because it is now the largest jury verdict in our legal threats database, beating out Scheff v. Bock by a cool $1.2 million. . . . [Orix] alleged that the defendants set up the Predatorix.com website and used it to published false and defamatory statements about Orix. For example, Orix claimed that the website accused the company of committing tax fraud and being under federal investigation for violating racketeering laws. Later, Orix filed an amended counterclaim to add a copyright infringement claim arising from Predatorix's re-posting of a page from the Orix website. . . . ."
Sam Bayard, $12.5 Million Jury Verdict in Texas Internet Defamation Case
"Back in November 2006, the New England Patriots went on the offense and filed a lawsuit against StubHub Inc., one of the largest online ticket resellers, claiming that the company encourages fans to violate Massachusetts' anti-scalping laws and the team's prohibition against reselling tickets. The lawsuit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, also named as defendants two local residents and 50 'John Does,' who allegedly resold their season tickets on StubHub.com. After a long, drawn out period of discovery, StubHub moved for partial summary judgment, arguing, among other things, that under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act it shouldn't be held responsible for the actions of its users. In what appears to be a troubling expansion of the Ninth Circuit's holding in Fair Housing of Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com, 521 F.3d 1157 (9th Cir. 2008), Superior Court Justice Ralph Gants threw the flag and held that StubHub was not entitled to immunity. . . . In summary, StubHub profited as ticket prices increased; it didn't require users to disclose what they paid for their tickets, thus making it harder to police its site; and it encouraged its best clients to buy low and sell high. Isn't this the way most online auction sites work? . . ."
David Ardia, StubHub Unsuccesfully Invokes Section 230 Defense in Lawsuit by New England Patriots
"A few recent intellectual property disputes have highlighted the fact that the decision to pursue legal action is both a legal and a moral choice. While concepts such as 'fair use' help to ensure protection of both intellectual property rights while promoting creative expression, they can't replace a simple concept we all learned in kindergarten: 'treat others the way you’d like them to treat you.' A couple of days ago, New York TV news station CW 11 convinced YouTube to take down a video from prank group Improv Everywhere that copied part of a CW 11 newscast. The twist as that the CW 11 newscast itself copied an earlier Improv video to unintentionally hilarious effect. In the original Improv video, the troupe hijacked a staged funeral as an April Fools Day prank on viewers and passers-by. CW 11 reported the hijacking as a real prank on real funeral-goers that might have gone too far. The newscasters missed the fact that the prank wasn't on the fake funeral-goers but, instead, on those who believed the video was real. . . . A even more disappointing recent example comes from 'fair use' darling Shepard Fairey. For those who haven't been following along, he's the defendant in the Associated Press' big copyright flap over the Obama 'HOPE' poster. . . ."
Matt Sanchez, Whatever Happened to Playing Fair?
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