Week of September 26, 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...

Matt Sanchez examines Steven Tyler's privacy lawsuit against anonymous bloggers.
Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Sues Cyber-Impersonators [2]

David Ardia looks at YouTube's proactive response to Scientology's bogus DMCA notices.
YouTube Anti-Scientology Takedowns and Putbacks [3]

Sam Bayard reports on a big victory for speech under the Florida anti-SLAPP statute.
Marc Randazza: First Amendment Juggernaut [4]

David Ardia announces a long-awaited insurance option for citizen media.
New Insurance Program for Bloggers Offered by the Media Bloggers Association [5]

CMLP Staff gives an update on the Jones Day trademark spat.
CMLP Joins Amicus Brief in Support of BlockShopper.com [6]

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Recent threats added to the CMLP database...

Powermark Homes v. John Doe [7]
Posted September 23, 2008

Ocean Towers Housing v. Stone [8]
Posted September 23, 2008

Wilbanks v. Wolk [9]
Posted September 22, 2008

Arthur v. TMZ.com [10]
Posted September 21, 2008

A Pocono Country Place Property Owners Association v. Sciarrone [11]
Posted September 21, 2008

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Other citizen media law news...

Pennsylvania high court upholds absolute reporter's privilege
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press [12] - Thurs. 09/25/08

Senate boldly advances to 2005 with updated Web linking rules
Ars Technica [13] - Thurs. 09/25/08

Hollywood Wants Internet Providers to Block Copyrighted Files
New York Times Bits Blog [14] - Thurs. 09/25/08

Warner Bros lose Hari Puttar case
BBC News [15] - Mon. 09/23/08

Perfect 10 v. Google on Remand, and 230 as an Affirmative Defense
Technology & Marketing Blog [16] - Sun. 09/22/08

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The full(er) Brief...

"Aerosmith singer and generally-uber-famous-person Steven Tyler filed a lawsuit Wednesday against anonymous bloggers who allegedly impersonated him and his girlfriend Erin Brady. Tyler's complaint includes claims for false light invasion of privacy, publication of private facts, and misappropriation of likeness (a.k.a. right of publicity).  It requests damages and an injunction prohibiting the defendants from further misappropriating Tyler's name or likeness or implying that they speak for him. . . ."
Matt Sanchez, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler Sues Cyber-Impersonators [2]

"The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports on some good news, and bit of bad news, regarding the blizzard of DMCA takedown notices sent to YouTube on behalf of the Church of Scientology. Back in early September, the American Rights Counsel, Schaper Company, and Media House Enterprises, among others, sent hundreds of takedown notices to YouTube demanding the removal of videos critical of the Church of Scientology.  According to EFF, '[i]t soon became clear that these entities did not hold the copyrights to the materials they claimed to be infringed, including footage from a Clearwater City Commission meeting and a man-on-the-street interview. In addition, many of these videos were obvious fair uses, such as independent news reports.' If inappropriate DMCA takedowns don't surprise you -- and they shouldn't (if you've been reading our blog, you know that misuse of the DMCA is widespread) -- YouTube's response might just put a smile on your face. . . ."
David Ardia, YouTube Anti-Scientology Takedowns and Putbacks [3]

"My good friend Marc Randazza has given me the green light on an exciting piece of news.  On September 11, 2008, Florida Circuit Court Judge George Sprinkle entered a default judgment in favor of Randazza's client Larry Giles, operator of the Veranda Park News, an online newspaper offering observations and commentary on events and aesthetic issues in Giles's development community.  The court awarded Giles approximately $180,000 in treble damages under one of Florida's anti-SLAPP statutes, Fla. Stat. § 720.304 (4), which protects homeowners who engage in petitioning activity in matters related to their homeowners' associations. . . ."
Sam Bayard, Marc Randazza: First Amendment Juggernaut [4]

"Here is a simple, but often ignored, truth: if you publish online, whether it's a news article, blog post, podcast, video, or even a user comment, you open yourself up to potential legal liability.  It doesn't matter whether you are a professional journalist, hockey-mom, or an obscure blogger, if you post it, you'll need to be prepared for the legal consequences. So how big are the legal risks?  It depends on what you publish and how you go about doing so. . . . While most lawsuits never get to trial, even frivolous suits dismissed at a relatively early stage of the litigation can be expensive to defend.  Unfortunately, if you lack the money to carry out a vigorous defense, your only option may be to settle (perhaps agreeing to take down the offending content or even your entire site) regardless of the merits of your defense. For these reasons, it is important to assess whether your online activities are covered by insurance. . . . If your activities are not covered by your existing insurance, you should give serious consideration to getting media liability insurance.  Although these policies can be prohibitively expensive, a new insurance program offered by Media/Professional Insurance called 'BlogInsure' is aimed specifically for bloggers and other independent online publishers. . . ."
David Ardia, New Insurance Program for Bloggers Offered by the Media Bloggers Association [5]

"Last Friday, the Citizen Media Law Project joined Public Citizen, EFF, and Public Knowledge in filing an amici curiae brief in support of BlockShopper.com's motion to dismiss Jones Day's bogus trademark claims against it. The brief argues that Jones Day has failed to state a cause of action for trademark infringement because exhibits to the complaint clearly dispel any likelihood of confusion, because the First Amendment protects Blockshopper's noncommercial speech, and because using Jones Day's name to describe the activities of its associates is a nominative fair use. It also argues that Jones Day has failed to state a cause of action for trademark dilution because 'Jones Day' is not a famous trademark and because statutory defenses for fair use, news reporting, and noncommercial speech bar the claim. . . ."
CMLP Staff, CMLP Joins Amicus Brief in Support of BlockShopper.com [6]