Legal: Copyright & Trademark
Mary Kay Cosmetics Sues RetailMeNot For Fraud, Trademark Infringement
When consumers are ready to make an online purchase a substantial number will pause during checkout, tab over to a search engine and query...
Google Wins Injunction Against Mississippi Attorney General’s “Conspiracy” To Censor Search Results
Last fall, Google sued Mississippi State Attorney General Jim Hood in federal court to quash a “punitive and burdensome subpoena.”...
Lawsuit Targeting Google And Apple Could Disappear Pre-1972 Music From The Web
There’s a pending class-action lawsuit that exploits a strange federal copyright loophole to target Google, Apple, Sony and others. As...
EU Seeks To Overcome “Loser” Digital Status With Single Market, New Taxes On U.S. Web Companies
EU digital czar Günther Oettinger is signaling that he wants to make a series of moves to level the digital playing field for European internet...
Google Sues State Attorney General Who Allegedly Conspired With MPAA
State Attorneys General are the top cops in every state and have traditionally been regarded as public officials of the highest integrity....
YouTube Music Key: Will A New Music Subscription Service Quiet Piracy Complaints?
YouTube has long been one of the primary ways consumers discover and listen to music, and Google took a big step toward making that even easier...
Locksmith Sues Google, Others Claiming Spam Local Listings Illegal
A Northern Virginia locksmith has sued Google, Yellowbook (hibu) and Ziplocal under multiple state and federal laws, including the Racketeer...
Google Touts Its Progress In Piracy Battle, Announces New Ad Format & “Pirate” Algorithm Update
Against what seems like an almost constant string of accusations that it’s not doing enough to prevent online piracy, Google today touted...
Court Ruling: Just Because People “Google” Stuff, Google Shouldn’t Lose Its Trademark
To Google something has come to mean looking it up online. As the saying goes, “Google is a verb.” However, that usage...
Book Scanning Suits Against Google, Others Wind Down With Fair Use Rulings
The book scanning litigation against Google (and others) brought by the Authors Guild on behalf of member-copyright owners is drawing to a...
Pirate Sites Earn $227 Million In Ad Revenue Per Year With Some Funded By Major Brands [Report]
The Digital Citizens Alliance claims pirate sites earn $227 million in advertising revenue per year, with ads from major brands like Amazon,...
Rebel With A Twitter Cause: CMG Sues Twitter For Ownership Of @JamesDean Account
Last Friday, The Hollywood Reporter disclosed a lawsuit filed by CMG Worldwide against Twitter. CMG, a firm that manages the commercial real...
Beastie Boys Decide To File Lawsuit Against GoldieBlox For Using Song “Girls” In Viral Video Ad
According to a report on Gigaom.com, the Beastie Boys have decided to file a counter lawsuit against the toy company GoldieBlox for copyright...
GoldieBlox Removes “Girls” Music From Video Parody, Hopes For Peace In Letter To The Beastie Boys
The GoldieBlox legal battle against the Beastie Boys over the band’s song “Girls” being used in a parody ads may be nearing an...
Beastie Boys Fight For Their Right – But Maybe The GoldieBlox “Girls” Parody Video Is Legal?
Last week, toy company GoldieBlox released its “Goldieblox, Rube Goldberg & Beastie Boys Princess Machine” YouTube video, an ad...
Getty Images Enters Deal To Provide Photo Credits On Images Uploaded To Pinterest
Both Pinterest and Getty Images announced last week a joint multi-year deal in which Pinterest will pay Getty Images a fee to attach rich...
Pinterest Gets Tough On Contest Rules By Adding New Language To Its Acceptable Use Policy
After including a complete set of “Dos and Don’ts” for contests on its Brand Guidelines page in May, Pinterest has taken...
Twitter’s Latest Transparency Report Details Increases In DMCA, Removal & Information Requests
Twitter’s latest transparency report shows that the company is seeing double-digit increases in data-related requests so far this year...
Major Ad Networks Sign Anti-Piracy Best Practices Aimed To Starve Piracy Sites Of Ad Revenues
In a move to combat online piracy and copyright infringement, leading ad networks have agreed to a set of best practices set to cut-off ad...
Google Book Scanning Class Action Likely To Disappear
It’s probably safe to say that Google’s entire business is built on the legal foundation of Fair Use. Fair Use is a copyright...