Recent Threats Added to the DMLP Database

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute. Information contained in this entry is current as of the last event mentioned in the "Description" section below; additional proceedings might have taken place in this matter since this event.

Hvide v. Doe

Date: 09/30/1999
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Subpoena Enforced, Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Forum
Eric Hvide sued eight anonymous Yahoo and America Online posters for defamation in Florida state court after the posters criticized Hvide's running of Hvide Marine, Inc.  The record is sketchy, but it appears the court ordered disclosure of the commenters' identities despite...
- 02/03/2010 - 2:03pm - 0 comments

Moore v. Boing Boing

Date: 12/15/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Blog
In December 2009, counsel for Demi Moore sent a demand letter to Boing Boing, in regard to a November 17 Xeni Jardin post titled "Was Demi Moore Ralph-Laurenized on 'W' mag cover, with missing hip-flesh?."  The...
- 01/28/2010 - 5:26pm - 0 comments

Dane v. Gawker

Date: 09/23/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
On September 23, 2009, Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane and his wife Rebecca Gayheart filed a complaint for copyright infringement against Mark Ebner and various Gawker Media entities in the federal district court for the Central District of California. According to the Complaint,...
- 01/28/2010 - 4:05pm - 0 comments

Moore v. Jezebel.com

Date: 12/15/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Blog
In December 2009, counsel for Demi Moore sent a demand letter to Anna Holmes, Editor-In-Chief of Jezebel.com, in regard to a Jezebel post from November that speculated about whether Moore's cover photo for W Magazine had been photoshopped...
- 01/27/2010 - 7:20pm - 0 comments

Stone v. Hipcheck16

Date: 04/01/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Subpoena Enforced
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Illinois
Publication: Website
In November 2009, an Illinois Circuit Court judge ruled that Buffalo Grove Village Trustee Lisa Stone was entitled to pre-suit discovery of the identity of "Hipcheck16," an anonymous commenter who allegedly defamed her son in the comments section of a...
- 01/26/2010 - 7:31pm - 0 comments

Vision Media TV Group v. Forte

Date: 03/09/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Forum
In February 2009, Vision Media TV, a company that makes video segments that advertise nonprofit companies, sued Julia Forte, who runs the website 800Notes, a forum site on which members of the public can discuss telemarketing companies and practices. Vision...
- 01/26/2010 - 6:50pm - 0 comments

Conde Nast v. Does

Date: 12/17/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Blog, Social Network, Website
On December 17, 2009, Conde Nast filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York against unknown Doe defendants asserting claims for copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement, and violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.  According to the Complaint, sometime...
- 01/21/2010 - 2:22pm - 0 comments

Levinson Axelrod v. Heyburn

Date: 11/04/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Publication: Blog
In November 2009, Levinson Axelrod, a New Jersey law firm, sued its former associate Edward Harrington Heyburn and his law firm over a gripe site Heyburn operated at www.levinsonaxelrod.net and later http://levinsonaxelrodreallysucks.com/. The complaint included claims for trademark infringement and dilution, violation...
- 01/20/2010 - 6:43pm - 0 comments

Peabody Energy Corporation v. DeSmet

Date: 01/06/2010
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction:
Publication: Website
On January 6, 2010, Peabody Energy Corporation sent a demand letter to Brian DeSmit, an environmental activist who operates a website at http://cleancoalwustl.org/. Peabody is part of the Consortium for Clean Coal Utilization (CCCU) with Washington University, which funds research efforts to...
- 01/20/2010 - 5:13pm - 0 comments

Massachusetts v. Peyton

Date: 12/01/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Criminal Charge
Jurisdiction: Massachusetts
Publication:
In December 2007, Massachusetts authorities charged documentary filmmaker and citizen journalist Emily Peyton with violating Massachusetts wiretapping law after she videoptaped police arresting an antiwar protester in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The ACLU represented Ms. Peyton, and the charges against her were...
- 01/19/2010 - 6:21pm - 1 comments

Circuit Court v. Florida Times-Union

Date: 01/14/2010
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Denial of Access
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Blog
On January 14, 2010, during the second day of a high-profile murder trial, Circuit Judge L. Page Haddock of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Court in Duval County, Florida, ordered a reporter for the Florida Times-Union's Jacksonville.com to stop live-blogging the...
- 01/19/2010 - 5:49pm - 0 comments

Szukalski v. Frey

Date: 01/09/2010
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Blog
Ted Szukalski, an Australian photographer, sent blogger Patrick Frey of Patterico's Pontifications what purported to be a DMCA takedown notice on January 9, 2010.  The takedown notice complained about Frey's blog post that reproduced and commented on a photoshopped...
- 01/14/2010 - 2:48pm - 0 comments

Grayson v Langley

Date: 12/15/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Other
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Website
Representative Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting an investigation of Angie G. Langley for violating 18 U.S.C. § 1001 by falsely representing to the Federal Elections Commission that her PAC "supports or...
- 01/12/2010 - 5:37pm - 0 comments

Castaldi v. Goetz Fitzpatrick LLP

Date: 07/02/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Website
In July 2009, Marc Castaldi, a real estate developer, brought a defamation lawsuit in New York state court against Goetz Fitzpatrick, LLP, after he discovered LegalLawComplaints.com (no longer available), which linked to documents related to legal claims involving Castaldi or his...
- 01/12/2010 - 5:09pm - 0 comments

United States v. Madison

Date: 09/24/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Criminal Charge
Jurisdiction: New York, Pennsylvania
Publication: Micro-blog
Elliott Madison (also spelled as Elliot Madison), along with Michael Wallschlaeger, was arrested by the Pennsylvania state police after using Twitter messages to relay information from police scanners and maps to protestors of the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh. They were charged with...
- 01/12/2010 - 4:55pm - 0 comments

Clem v. Richmond Register

Date: 08/25/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Publication: Website
A Kentucky college student who was kicked out of a mall for wearing a short dress issued a subpoena to the Richmond Register seeking the identity of an anonymous poster on the newspaper's website.  The subpoena was issued in connection with a...
- 01/07/2010 - 7:22pm - 0 comments

Clem v. Doe

Date: 08/25/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Kentucky
Publication: Website
On August 25, 2008, a Kentucky college student who was kicked out of a mall for wearing a short dress filed suit in Kentucky state court against an anonymous commenter for allegedly posting a defamatory comment about her on a newspaper's website. ...
- 01/07/2010 - 7:16pm - 0 comments

Rakofsky v. South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Date: 12/17/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Website
Pembroke Pines Police Officer Daniel Rakofsky filed a "Complaint for Pure Bill of Discovery" against the publishers of the South Florid Sun-Sentinel newspaper, seeking the identities of several pseudonymous commenters to a Sun-Sentinel article about him.  On November 5, 2009,...
- 01/07/2010 - 4:27pm - 0 comments

U.S. Chamber of Commerce v. Yes Men

Date: 10/26/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
Publication: Verbal, Website
In October 2009, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued a group of political activists including members of the Yes Men and the Action Factory for trademark infringement and other claims in federal district court in the District of...
- 01/06/2010 - 7:39pm - 0 comments

Siegal v. Kardashian

Date: 12/28/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Florida
Publication: Micro-blog
Dr. Sanford Siegal, creator of the "Cookie Diet" weight-loss program, and his company, Dr. Siegal's Direct Nutritionals, LLC, filed a defamation lawsuit against celebrity socialite, model, and actress Kim Kardashian after she posted negative comments about the "Cookie Diet" on...
- 01/05/2010 - 6:16pm - 0 comments

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