Court Holds That Section 230’s Carve Out for “intellectual Property” Does Not Apply to Publicity Rights Claim in New York
- Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act provides broad immunity to online platforms for claims arising from hosting third-party content (though just how broad is a hot issue that the Supreme Court may decide this term in Gonzalez v. Google LLC ). But... ›
Two Great New Blogs!
Morrison & Foerster’s Appellate Group has created two unique blogs containing invaluable information: The Federal Circuitry blog takes a data-driven look at the Federal Circuit; and The Left Coast Appeals blog offers an empirical window into the Ninth Circuit’s workings, monitors the Ninth Circuit’s... ›In the Public Eye: USPTO Issues Report on AI
By: Tessa J. Schwartz
The USPTO recently released the report “Public Views on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Policy”. The report is part of the USPTO’s effort to engage with the innovation community and experts on AI and to promote innovation of AI through appropriate intellectual property incentives.... ›Webscraping a Publicly Available Database May Constitute Trade Secret Misappropriation
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
Is scraping data from a publicly available website trade secret misappropriation? Based on a new opinion from the Eleventh Circuit, It might be. In Compulife Software, Inc. v. Newman , Compulife Software , a life insurance quote database service alleged that one of its... ›SEC Staff Issues Guidance on Technology, Data & IP Risks in International Operations
By: David M. Lynn
On December 19, 2019, the Staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Corporation Finance issued guidance outlining the Staff’s views about disclosure obligations that companies should consider with respect to technology, data and intellectual property risks that could arise when operations... ›Will the Music Industry Continue To Win Its Copyright Battle Against ISPs?
By: J. Alexander Lawrence
For the last twenty years, the music industry has been in a pitched battle to combat unauthorized downloading of music. Initially, the industry focused on filing lawsuits to shut down services that offered peer-to-peer or similar platforms, such as Napster , Aimster and Grokster.... ›By Winning Motion to Dismiss, Supermodel Loses Chance to Clarify Whether She Can Lawfully Post Photos of Herself to Social Media
By: Aaron P. Rubin
A federal district court dismissed a case against supermodel Gigi Hadid for posting to Instagram a photo of herself that was taken by a paparazzo. The reason for the court’s decision was simple: The party claiming copyright ownership of the photo failed to get... ›Social Links: Suit over “embedded tweet” with Tom Brady’s photo settles; brand agency manipulates Wikipedia; evidence from Instagram wins French rock star’s kids a share of his estate
By: Julie O'Neill
In March, Socially Aware reported on a lawsuit involving several prominent news outlets’ publication of a photo of NFL quarterback Tom Brady on Twitter. The case had the potential to upend a copyright and Internet-law rule that, in the words of a Forbes columnist... ›Copyright’s Long Arm: Foreign Website Found to Infringe U.S. Copyright Law by Providing U.S. Viewers Access to Site Content
If a web server located outside the United States hosts video content that can be viewed by Internet users located in the United States , does a public performance result under U.S. copyright law? This has been a topic of hot debate for a... ›Monkey-Selfie Case Returns—To Court & (Maybe) a Theater Near You
I confess: I have mixed emotions regarding the iconic “monkey-selfie” photo and all the hubbub it has created. Don’t get me wrong; I think monkeys are wonderful, and the photo deserves its iconic status. Who can resist smiling while viewing that famous image of... ›