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Home > Jones v. Above The Law

Jones v. Above The Law [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 11/04/2009 - 17:30

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

10/27/2009

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Withdrawn

Location: 

Florida

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Copyright Infringement
False Light
Publication of Private Facts
In October 2009, Donald Marvin Jones, a law professor at the University of Miami School of Law, sued David Lat and David Minkin, editor and publisher of the popular law gossip blog Above the Law (ATL), as well as ATL's parent company,... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

David Minkin; David Lat; Dead Horse Media, Inc.

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Individual
Organization

Location of Party: 

  • Florida

Location of Party: 

  • New York

Legal Counsel: 

Pro Se

Legal Counsel: 

Marc John Randazza
Description

In October 2009, Donald Marvin Jones [2], a law professor at the University of Miami School of Law, sued David Lat and David Minkin, editor and publisher of the popular law gossip blog Above the Law (ATL) [3], as well as ATL's parent company, Dead Horse Media. The complaint seeks $22 million in damages and an injunction "enjoining Abovethelaw to remove all articles and posts concerning Professor Jones."

The lawsuit revolves around a series [4] of [5] posts [6] ATL published after Jones was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of trying to solicit sex from a prostitute. In these posts, ATL made fun of Jones—calling him "The Nutty Professor"—and posted a screenshot of the "incident report" [5] for his arrest.  In one post [7], Lat published a photo/graphic mash-up collage forwarded to him by a reader that—according to the complaint—"depict[ed] Professor Jones as a drug dealer and a pimp or both."  The graphic featured one photograph of Jones superimposed on a $20 bill and another talking up a group of prostitutes. 

According to the National Law Journal [8], Jones pleaded not guilty to the solicitation charge, and the authorities later dismissed the charge and expunged it from Jones' record.

Jones' complaint alleges that ATL infringed his copyright by publishing the mash-up collage because a photo in it was "stolen from the UM website without permission." There is no allegation that Jones, as opposed to the University, owns the copyright in the photo or that the photo is registered with the copyright office. Jones also alleges that publication of the collage casts him in a false light by portraying him as a "dope dealer, pimp, and criminal."

Finally, the complaint alleges that ATL invaded his privacy and cast him in a false light by publishing the "incident report" despite dismissal and expungement of the solicitation charges.  Jones' claim that ATL made "private records public" is complicated by Fla. Stat. § 119.105 [9], which provides that "[p]olice reports are public records except as otherwise made exempt or confidential," and says that, even in the case of exempt or confidential police reports, "[t]his section does not prohibit the publication of such information to the general public by any news media legally entitled to possess that information."

On November 4, 2009, after much [10] criticism [11] of [12] the [13] lawsuit [14] in the legal blogosphere, Professor Jones voluntarily dismissed the action.

Related Links: 

  • Copyrights & Campaigns: Law Professor sues 'Above the Law' blog; time to go back to complaint-drafting school [10]
  • The National Law Journal: Law prof sues 'Above the Law' site for 'viciously racious series of rants.'  [8]
  • WSJ Law Blog: Open Thread: The Above the Law Lawsuit [15]
  • The Volokh Conspiracy: Prof. Donald Jones' Lawsuit Against Above The Law [11]
  • The Volokh Conspiracy: Law Professor Seeks Clearly Unconstitutional Injunction [12]
  • Technology & Marketing Law Blog: Law Professor Sues Over 'Above the Law' Blog Posts - Jones v. Minkin [13]
  • Abovethelaw: Lawsuit of the Day: Jones v. Minkin (Or: Above the Law gets sued!!!) [16] (links to additional news coverage and background materials)
Details

Web Site(s) Involved: 

Above the Law [3]

Content Type: 

  • Photo
  • Text
  • Graphic

Publication Medium: 

Blog

Subject Area: 

  • Copyright
  • Third-Party Content
  • False Light
  • Publication of Private Facts
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • Florida

Source of Law: 

  • United States
  • Florida

Court Name: 

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

Court Type: 

Federal

Case Number: 

09-23256

Relevant Documents: 

PDF icon 2009-10-27-Jones v. Minkin Complaint.pdf [17]
PDF icon 2009-11-04-Jones Notice of Voluntary Dismissal.pdf [18]

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:10pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/jones-v-above-law

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/jones-v-above-law
[2] http://www.law.miami.edu/facadmin/mjones.php?letter=J
[3] http://www.abovethelaw.com/
[4] http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/10/u_of_m_hits_the_msm.php
[5] http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/10/the_prostitutepropositioning_p.php
[6] http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/10/lawyer_of_the_day_d_marvin_jon_1.php
[7] http://abovethelaw.com/2007/10/the_nutty_professor_a_commemor.php#more
[8] http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202435125916&Law_prof_sues_Above_the_Law_site_for_viciously_racist_series_of_rants&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
[9] http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0119/SEC105.HTM&Title=-%3E2009-%3ECh0119-%3ESection%20105#0119.105
[10] http://copyrightsandcampaigns.blogspot.com/2009/11/law-professor-sues-above-law-blog-time.html
[11] http://volokh.com/2009/11/03/prof-donald-jones-lawsuit-against-above-the-law/
[12] http://volokh.com/2009/11/03/law-professor-seeks-clearly-unconstitutional-injunction/
[13] http://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2009/11/law_professor_s.htm
[14] http://menagealaw.blogspot.com/2009/11/when-you-have-fool-for-client.html
[15] http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/11/03/open-thread-the-above-the-law-lawsuit/
[16] http://abovethelaw.com/2009/11/donald_jones_v_david_minkin.php
[17] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-10-27-Jones%20v.%20Minkin%20Complaint.pdf
[18] https://www.dmlp.org/sites/dmlp.org/files/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2009-11-04-Jones%20Notice%20of%20Voluntary%20Dismissal.pdf