Social Links: Inline link to tweet with photo could constitute copyright infringement; proposed California legislation could restrict website operators’ efforts to have minors consent to terms of use
- - First Amendment, Protected Speech, Privacy, Online Contracts, Copyright, Defamation, Compliance, IP, LitigationIn a decision that has generated considerable controversy, a federal court in New York has held that the popular practice of embedding tweets into websites and blogs can result in copyright infringement. Plaintiff Justin Goldman had taken a photo of NFL quarterback Tom Brady,... ›
California Court Holds That YouTube’s Removal Notice Is Not Defamatory
By: Aaron P. Rubin
As we have noted previously , YouTube users sometimes object when the online video giant removes their videos based on terms-of-use violations, such as artificially inflated view counts. In a recent California case, Bartholomew v. YouTube, LLC, the court rejected a user’s claim that... ›- - First Amendment, European Union, Influencer Marketing, Antitrust, Defamation, Free Speech, Litigation
Social Links: Can media companies be liable for their talents’ social media posts?; a trade group for social influencers; a potentially dangerous Snapchat update
By: Aaron P. Rubin
A defamation suit brought by one reality television star against another—and naming Discovery Communications as a defendant—could determine to what extent (if any) media companies may be held responsible for what their talent posts on social media. In a move characterized as setting legal... › Controversial California Court Decision Significantly Narrows a Crucial Liability Safe Harbor for Website Operators
A recent California court decision involving Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) is creating considerable concern among social media companies and other website operators. As we’ve discussed in past blog posts , CDA Section 230 has played an essential role in the... ›Social Links: Publishers claim ad blockers violate FTC rules; Twitter bags its “buy button”; has the IoT gone too far?
By: Aaron P. Rubin
The Newspaper Association of America has filed a first-of-its-kind complaint with the FTC over certain ad blocking technologies. Is it “Internet” or “internet”? The Associated Press is about to change the capitalization rule. Lots of people criticized Instagram’s new logo, but, according to a... ›Status Updates: Appeals court upholds anti-cyberbullying law; better marketing through neural networks; restaurant owner turns the tables on Yelp critic
Positive I.D. The tech world recently took a giant step forward in the quest to create computers that accurately mimic human sensory and thought processes, thanks to Fei-Fei Li and Andrej Karpathy of the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The pair developed a program that... ›Court Protects Anonymity of Yelp Users
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
Virginia’s highest court recently held that Yelp could not be forced to turn over the identities of anonymous online reviewers that a Virginia carpet-cleaning owner claimed tarnished his business. In the summer of 2012, Joseph Hadeed, owner of Hadeed Carpet Cleaning, sued seven anonymous Yelp... ›