We predicted last year that 2016 would be the year of Pokémon. This prophecy came true last week within just two days of the Pokémon Go launch. The location-based augmented reality mobile game/app quickly surpassed Tinder in...more
A Chicago law firm has challenged Jay-Z and Kanye West, filing a class action complaint for violations of the California Business & Professions Code, fraudulent inducement and unjust enrichment in the Northern District of...more
We’ve previously written about the distinctions between hacking credit and other financial data in comparison to hacking private information. (See Ashley Madison and Coming to “Terms” with Data Protection.) The issue of how...more
4/25/2016
/ Ashley Madison ,
Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Confidential Information ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Hackers ,
Inadvertent Disclosure ,
Popular ,
Public Disclosure ,
Young Lawyers
We recently wrote about a musician who got into some trouble with a court by using social media to flaunt images of hundred dollar bills after he had filed for bankruptcy. Now, an Atlanta-based rapper known as Rolls Royce...more
3/24/2016
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Dilution ,
Lanham Act ,
Music Industry ,
Popular ,
Rolls-Royce ,
Social Media ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Unfair Competition ,
Young Lawyers
We have written previously about the role of traditional discovery roles in “newer” platforms, and how social media content can be discoverable and used in litigation. What about using information from social media in jury...more
At its heart, social media’s purpose is sharing content; however, fair use can only take one so far. A recent case serves as yet another reminder to exercise caution when reposting content, and that, in a litigious society,...more
The future of ride-sharing companies has hung in the balance for more than two years while class actions and labor complaints were pending against industry giants Uber, Lyft and others. The ride-sharing companies have...more
A recently published patent application filed by Twitter provides a possible glimpse into the future of social media and selfies—and it’s a future arriving on the wings of that poster child of modern technology, the unmanned...more
1/28/2016
/ Corporate Counsel ,
DMCA ,
Drones ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Popular ,
Registration Requirement ,
Safe Harbors ,
Selfies ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ,
Young Lawyers
Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. When it comes to acting on copyright infringement takedown notices, just how fast is fast enough for social media platforms? Some recent (and not-so-recent) cases reveal how difficult the question...more
Patents related to games are facing new challenges for being too “abstract,” but a recent court ruling highlights the limits to this line of attack. Last year, the Supreme Court reinvigorated a body of law that defines the...more
In a recent federal district court case in the Northern District of California (Case No. 13-cv-04608-HSG), Pintrips Inc., a website-based travel planning service, effectively pinned to the mat the trademark claims brought...more
As user-generated content explodes over the Internet, intellectual property disputes over posting or uploading such content without the owner’s consent continue to escalate. As we touched on in a recent post, social media...more
11/5/2015
/ Copyright Infringement ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DMCA ,
Independent Contractors ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Internet ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
News Stories ,
Online Platforms ,
Online Videos ,
Photographs ,
Popular ,
Safe Harbors ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Spam ,
Third-Party ,
Third-Party Liability ,
User-Generated Content ,
Websites ,
Young Lawyers
Continuing the trend in recent years of injunctions becoming harder and harder to obtain, the Northern District of California denied a motion for a preliminary injunction where the defendant has allegedly copied the...more
Do you consider yourself famous? If the answer is no, then you have likely never been concerned with the invasion of your right of publicity. The right of publicity is the right of a person in his or her identity—name or...more
10/8/2015
/ Communications Decency Act ,
First Amendment ,
LinkedIn ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Name and Likeness ,
Popular ,
Preemption ,
Right of Publicity ,
Snapchat ,
Social Media ,
Twitter ,
Young Lawyers
A party’s right to privacy has always been an important and sometimes limiting factor in the resolution of discovery disputes. Social media platforms, which allow users to select the extent with whom they share their network,...more
9/15/2015
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Discovery Rule ,
Facebook ,
Motion to Compel ,
Online Platforms ,
Popular ,
Privacy Settings ,
Right to Privacy ,
Social Media ,
Social Networks ,
Young Lawyers
Oh, the once humble hashtag (or pound sign, number sign, octothorpe, etc.). For so long a symbol both ubiquitous and free from controversy, its new life as a go-to signifier of discussions and trending topics on Twitter has...more
As social media platforms continue to find new ways to allow users to share, post, and forward nonoriginal content and users become more engaged in the practice, the platforms hosting the content and disgruntled original...more
8/20/2015
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
DMCA ,
Google ,
Inducement ,
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) ,
Photographs ,
Popular ,
Right of Reproduction ,
Safe Harbors ,
Social Media ,
The Copyright Act ,
Twitter ,
Young Lawyers ,
YouTube
As social media and the numerous platforms continue their exponential growth in popularity and constant evolvement, legal issues surrounding their use also will inevitably emerge. A recent case filed in the Western District...more
7/27/2015
/ Beer ,
Best Practices ,
Cease and Desist ,
Internet ,
Popular ,
Social Media ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
Twitter ,
User Names ,
Websites ,
Wine & Alcohol ,
Young Lawyers