Week of May 23, 2008 [1]

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...

Sam Bayard comments on Senator Lieberman's request that YouTube remove jihadist videos.
Senator Lieberman Asks YouTube to Take Down Radical Islamist Videos [2]

David Ardia looks at YouTube's new Citizen News Channel.
YouTube Announces New Citizen News Channel [3]

Tuna Chatterjee follows up on A&P's lawsuit against the D'Avella brothers.
A&P v. D'Avella Update: "Produce Paradise" Lawsuit Settles [4]

David Ardia reflects on a year's worth of blogging at the CMLP.
CMLP Celebrates Its First Year of Blogging [5]

Sam Bayard discusses a recent CDA 230 appellate court decision.
MySpace Wins Important CDA 230 Case in Fifth Circuit [6]

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

Bradley v. Conner [7]
Posted May 23rd, 2008

Ganjavi v. Smith [8]
Posted May 23rd, 2008

Washington Post v. Tunison [9]
Posted May 22nd, 2008

Warner Bros. Records v. Music2Nite [10]
Posted May 22nd, 2008

Sungenis v. Tarsax [11]
Posted May 22nd, 2008

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Other citizen media law news...

Another Take on the MySpace Charges: The Statute Neatly Fits the Facts
Wall Street Journal Law Blog [12] - Thurs. 05/22/08

Copyright fight brewing between TV networks and RedLasso
CNET News [13] - Tues. 05/20/08

Little Orphan Artworks
New York Times [14] - Mon. 5/19/08

S.D. Relents on Exit Polling
Broadcasting & Cable [15] - Mon. 5/19/08

Mo. lawmakers vote to bar Internet harassment
First Amendment Center [16] - Mon. 5/19/08

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The full(er) Brief...

"On Monday, Senator Joe Lieberman wrote to Google's CEO Eric Schmidt, asking the company to remove content produced by Islamist terrorist organizations from YouTube. The May 19 letter pointed out that many videos posted by radical groups violate YouTube's own terms of service because they contain 'graphic or gratiuitious violence.' But Sen. Lieberman went much further -- he complained that YouTube's terms of service do not prohibit the posting of any content 'that can be readily identified as produced by Al-Qaeda or another [Foreign Terrorist Organization].' . . . I'm OK with Sen. Lieberman asking YouTube to enforce its own terms of use, and YouTube responsibly worked with Sen. Lieberman's staff to identify and remove a large number of offending videos. But, I reject wholeheartedly his suggestion that YouTube should censor material based only on its source (i.e., radical Islamist groups allegedly tied to terrorist activities) and applaud Google for standing up for freedom of expression on this point. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Senator Lieberman Asks YouTube to Take Down Radical Islamist Videos [2]

"Earlier this week, YouTube announced that it had designated a news manager for the site and created a Citizen News channel. Olivia M. (strangely, she didn't include her last name), YouTube's new News Manager, announced the initiative on YouTube's blog. . . . Of course, there is already a lot of content on YouTube that could be described as citizen news. The new channel, however, will bring much of this content into one place and should serve as a useful platform for highlighting the important contributions that citizen media are making to our understanding of the world. As David Chartier at Ars Technica notes, the channel already includes over 70 'citizen journalists who are reporting on various issues and niches. "Texascountryreporter," for example, covers "the backroads of Texas to find the people and places who make the Lone Star State one-of-a-kind." "TheRealNews" is a "global online video news network" with impressive production values, boasting "thousands of $10 donations" from users around the world.' But David also offers a cautionary note. . . ."
David Ardia, YouTube Announces New Citizen News Channel [3]

"David's post yesterday got us thinking about one of our favorite cases, A&P v. D'Avella. As some of you will recall, the case involved two brothers who worked at an A&P supermarket in New Jersey and created parodic rap songs with supermarket themes under the name 'Fresh Beets.' Their crowning achievement, of course, was a video called 'Produce Paradise,' which they made in the A&P store (after hours) and posted to YouTube and their website fakelaugh.com. A&P was not amused and sued the brothers for trademark infringement and dilution, defamation, and trade libel. To put it mildly, the supermarket's legal claims were questionable (see Sam's August 30th post on the case for details). Through a little digging, I've learned that the parties have settled the case, bringing to a close one of the more humorous episodes chronicled in our legal threats database. . . ."
Tuna Chatterjee, A&P v. D'Avella Update: "Produce Paradise" Lawsuit Settles [4]

"Today marks the one-year anniversary of the launch of the Citizen Media Law Project's blog. Back on May 20, 2007, we didn't have much in the way of staff (it was just me) and we didn't have a whole lot to say (again, it was just me), but we knew we had to start somewhere. . . . With an average of about 5 new posts a week from 8 different authors, . . . I thought I would trot out the tried and true retrospective list. So, in case you were wondering which CMLP blog posts are the most popular, we've got you covered. I am not sure what this list tells us about the project or you, our readers, but it's interesting nonetheless. . . ."
David Ardia, CMLP Celebrates Its First Year of Blogging [5]

"Last Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of negligence claims brought against MySpace by the family of a teenage girl who used the popular social networking site to communicate with and arrange to meet a nineteen-year-old boy who sexually assaulted her. The district court held that section 230 of the Communications Decency Act ('CDA 230') barred the teen's claims based on MySpace's alleged failure to take basic safety measures to prevent sexual predators from communicating with minors on the site. See Doe v. MySpace, 474 F.Supp.2d 843 (W.D. Tex. 2007). Agreeing with the district court, the Court of Appeals concluded that the plaintiffs' claims, while ostensibly focusing on website safety, were essentially based on publication of third-party content and were thus defeated by CDA 230. . . . Eric Goldman says that the Fifth Circuit 'clearly got it right.' Now I almost never disagree with Professor Goldman, especially when it comes to a defense win on CDA 230 grounds, but one could argue that this case takes CDA 230 too far. . . ."
Sam Bayard, MySpace Wins Important CDA 230 Case in Fifth Circuit [6]