Facebook: Fact or fiction? These days, courts are more and more frequently faced with disputes over whether, as part of the discovery process, a litigant should be entitled to view the opposing party’s social media posts. As we’ve discussed, some courts deciding physical and emotional injury claims have held that the photos and status
Effort to Hide Facebook Evidence by Deactivating Account Ends Badly for Louisiana Man
As social media has become ubiquitous, courts are wrestling with more discovery disputes involving social media accounts.
In a recent case, Crowe v. Marquette Transportation Co. Gulf-Inland, LLC, the plaintiff deactivated his Facebook account in an effort to be able to claim that he was no longer on Facebook. A federal court in
Hot Off the Press: The April Issue of Our Socially Aware Newsletter Is Now Available
The latest issue of our Socially Aware newsletter is now available here.
In this issue of Socially Aware, our Burton Award-winning guide to the law and business of social media, we summarize the current status of various state laws restricting employer access to the personal social media accounts of applicants and employees; we
U.S. Courts’ Evolving Approaches to Social Media E-Discovery
Courts across the United States have now made clear that discovery of social media is fair game. At the same time, courts have consistently found that litigants will not be permitted to engage in social media fishing expeditions; rather, litigants will be required to show that the sites likely contain relevant material. We explore below various approaches taken by courts to address social media-related discovery challenges.
Some courts have simply quashed a litigant’s request for social media-related discovery for failure to show relevance to the dispute. In Kennedy v. Contract Pharmacal Corp., the plaintiff sought a variety of gender discrimination-based damages. The defendants sought to compel broad discovery from the plaintiff’s social media sites. For instance, the defendants broadly requested “[a]ll documents concerning, relating to, reflecting and/or regarding Plaintiff’s utilization of social networking sites.” Denying a motion to compel discovery, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York held that “[t]here is no specificity to the requests and no effort to limit these requests to any relevant acts alleged in this action.”
Continue Reading U.S. Courts’ Evolving Approaches to Social Media E-Discovery
What, What (In the Court): South Park Studios Shielded by Fair Use for Viral Video Parody
The Seventh Circuit held recently in Brownmark Films, LLC v. Comedy Partners that, under certain circumstances, a trial court may dismiss a copyright infringement case based on a fair use defense prior to discovery.
Over the years, the satiric Comedy Central cartoon program South Park and its creators have developed a reputation for biting social
Standard for Discovery of Anonymous Internet Users’ Identities Remains in Flux
Plenty of press attention has been given to social media sites’ views on whether their users can use “handles” or pseudonyms instead of their real names. But much of the Internet’s social conversation remains dependent upon that dot-com staple, the anonymous message board. In the recent case of Varrenti v. Gannett Co., Inc., a