Cat Meme Makers Go After Warner Brothers For Copyright Infringement

May 14th, 2013 § 1 comment § permalink

keyboard-cat

By IT-Lex Intern Joey Chindamo (LinkedIn)

When it comes to copyright infringement lawsuits, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. is known—like many of the major studios—for being an aggressive plaintiff. Typically, others infringe Warner Bros.’ copyrights and Warner Bros. sues them. But now, the tables have turned. Two plaintiffs are accusing the media company of infringing their copyrights and trademarks in the Scribblenauts series of video games, and now, it is lawsuit o’clock. And what intellectual property do the plaintiffs assert Warner Bros. infringed? Internet Cat memes, of course!

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NY Man Accused Of Hacking Former Employees’ Network, Raising Hell

May 14th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

allyourdataarebelongtousBy IT-Lex Intern Nicole Sellers (LinkedIn)

Earlier this month, the FBI announced the arrest of Micheal Meneses, a software programmer with a severe grudge against his former employer. According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Meneses had been employed as a software programmer and systems manager by the company until January 2012. He apparently became increasingly upset when he was passed over for numerous promotions, eventually deciding to tender his resignation. No one knew, though, that Mr. Meneses was not planning on leaving quietly.

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Craiglist Copyright Conundrum Continues

May 13th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

craigslist-exclusiveBy IT-Lex Intern Nicole Sellers (LinkedIn)

We have blogged about Craigslist copyright issues before, and recent developments indicate that this saga will continue for a while yet. To bring you up to speed: Craigslist suing a few rival websites – including Padmapper and 3taps – which allegedly “borrow” data from Craigslist and layer it with additional content. Craigslist argue that this practice is copyright infringement and a violation of its terms of service. The central issue at the most recent hearing was whether Craigslist can “own” the content published and created by users.  If it can, then it has a valid cause of action, if it cannot, then it has no basis to file a copyright infringement claim. The defendants made the latter argument, and filed a motion to dismiss.

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When Does eDiscovery Become Unreasonable?

May 13th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

overwhelmed

By IT-Lex Intern Joey Chindamo (LinkedIn)

In today’s look at eDiscovery, we turn to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the case of Campbell v. Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, et al. The original complaint was filed in 2011, and this article from the New Jersey Law Journal summarizes the scandalous reasons behind the lawsuit:

“Campbell, who is black, claims he was fired on Feb. 5, 2009, two days after he told the firm of his affair with the bailiff, who is white, and the same day a judicial ethics case against him over the relationship was made public.

He claims he was forced to resign and was escorted out of the firm’s Newark office where he had worked since 2006.

He says he was fired because of the interracial affair and his allegations of disparate treatment of minority lawyers. The firm, based in San Francisco, denies discriminating or firing Campbell.”

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Florida Bar Concerned About Hidden Text And Meta Tags

May 10th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

codeThe Florida Bar is currently considering a proposed advisory opinion that concerns the way lawyers advertise through their websites. More specifically, it’s aimed at the supposed menace of hidden text and metatags. Here’s the problem, as the Standing Committee sees it:

The Committee is of the opinion that certain website content and the use of certain internet search engine optimization techniques can be false, deceptive or misleading conduct that is prohibited by Rule 4-7.13. Examples include “hidden text” or “meta tags” that use another lawyer’s or law firm’s name without a proper purpose, a false representation that a law firm has an office in a particular location when the lawyer does not have an office at that location, or representing that a lawyer handles cases in an area of practice that the lawyer or firm does not practice.

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Inside And Out: The Changing Definition Of ‘Efficient’

May 10th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

insideandoutINSIDE AND OUT is a semi-regular column, where corporate counsel discuss technology law issues with outside counsel. In this installment, IT-Lex Member Jason A. Pill talks with Mory M. Jones, Esq., Director of Litigation for Medi-Weightloss Franchising USA, LLC, whose opinions expressed herein are entirely her own. 

 Jason Pill: Mory, after practicing as a litigator for over 10 years, you recently made the shift to work in-house as a Director of Litigation.  You went from billing hours to reviewing bills and monitoring efficiency of outside counsel.  How has this shift impacted your general perspective on litigation?

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Ticketmaster Sues 21 People Over Scalper Bots

May 9th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

ticketmasterBuying concert tickets online can be a true nightmare. This excellent Buzzfeed article explains why, if you’re not part of an artist fanclub, or an American Express cardholder, or the artist’s cousin, you’re going to have a hard time getting into the big show at your local arena. As point 5 on that article suggests, you’re fighting with so-called scalper bots – “programs designed to flood a particular on-sale with requests for tickets in order to increase the odds of scoring tickets and maximize the number of tickets that can be purchased at once.” Well, to that end, 21 people just found themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Ticketmaster, for allegedly operating bots networks.

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Bad Yelp Review For Dentist Leads To Legal Battle

May 9th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

loveusonyelpBy IT-Lex Intern Joey Chindamo (LinkedIn)

It began like the classic Boy-Meets-Girl story—Dentist meets patient. Dentist treats patient. Dentist sues patient when patient complains about dentist via online review websites? Huh?

Today’s case is yet another example of a lawsuit prompted by negative Yelp reviews. We talked about the online directory service earlier this year when courts sided with Yelp when reviewed businesses complained, and again when the Virginia Supreme Court overturned an injunction that sought to erase a negative review. In all the cases we examined then, the law was consistent—like it or not, Yelp reviews were there to stay.

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Probative Value Versus Burden: eDiscovery Of Metadata

May 8th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

magnify-computerIf you’ve seen Episode 3 of IT-Lex Productions, then you’ll know about the importance of metadata. Last week, a federal court in Idaho had to address a dispute involving metadata, and in so doing, offered a nice refresher in the rules of evidence generally, and of electronically stored information more particularly. The case is AtHome Care, Inc. v. The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. It’s basically a contracts dispute, and the court had to respond to AtHome’s motion to compel.

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Students Catfish Ex-Roommate, Get Into A Lot Of Trouble

May 8th, 2013 § 0 comments § permalink

catfish-movie-poster

Thanks to the Manti Te’o story, the concept of “catfishing” is probably familiar to most of our readers. If not, here’s the Urban Dictionary definition:

The phenomenon of internet predators that fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into emotional/romantic relationships (over a long period of time).

Possible motivations: revenge, loneliness, curiosity, boredom

The term catfishing was inspired by the 2010 documentary “Catfish.”

Last month, a court in Indiana heard about a case that involved students at Ball State University, and a whole lot of cruelty. Read more after the break.

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