Author Archives: Paul Levy

Jason Cross, Complaining About Right of Publicity Violations, Wants His Fans to See the Pages Over Which He Has Sued

I blogged a couple of weeks ago about a "country hip-hop" musician who had part of his lawsuit against Facebook, for hosting pages that denigrate him, dismissed under California's anti-SLAPP law but managed to hang onto his claims that Facebook had violated his right of publicity by hosting such pages while serving ads on them.    […]

Ripoff Report Will Drop Contract Term That Public Citizen and EFF Criticized for Hurting Consumers

by Paul Alan Levy In a comment posted yesterday to my blog post last week about an amicus brief that Public Citizen and EFF filed in the First Circuit, Ripoff Report founder Ed Magedson announced that his company is going to modify the browsewrap agreement that it has been imposing on users, whereby the company […]

Copyright Law and Section 230 Support Ripoff Report, But Its Browsewrap Agreement Is Unconscionable

by Paul Alan Levy Cases involving Xcentric Ventures, the company that owns Ripoff Report, frequently push the boundaries of the legal protections that are provided for the hosts of online expression, and we have often come to that company's defense even though some aspects of its business model leave something to be desired.  A brief […]

California Ruling Against Facebook on Right of Publicity Blows Huge Hole in Section 230 Immunity

by Paul Alan Levy A California Superior Court judge has issued a decision that threatens to blow a gaping hole in the protection that online hosts for critical speech have enjoyed under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and, therefore, in public’s ability to post critical speech.  In Cross v. Facebook, Judge Donald Ayoob […]

Dallas Pet-Sitting Firm Raises the Ante, Seeks Up to a Million Dollars in Damages for Yelp Review

by Paul Alan Levy I blogged back in February about a small-claims act proceeding that a Dallas pet-sitting company called “Prestigious Pets” had filed against a couple named Michelle and Robert Duchouquette over the fact  that Michelle Duchouquette had posted a Yelp  review presenting some fairly mild criticisms of the company’s policies.  The company claimed […]

Mesa, Arizona tells insurgent candidate not to put the city’s seal on his lawn signs

by Paul Alan Levy The city of Mesa, Arizona, has threatened suit against a local businessman, Jeremy Whittaker, who is running for city council in opposition to a longtime city employee who enjoys endorsements from several current elected city officials.  His offense?  His lawn signs and campaign literature include a single-color version of the city’s logo […]

Trademark Bullies Beware: Fifth Circuit Jettisons Bad Faith Requirement for Lanham Act Fees

by Paul Alan Levy When I saw the Popehat Signal a few years ago, seeking counsel to help Todd DeShong fend off a lawsuit in federal court in Texas claiming that he defamed Clark Baker on his "HIV Innocence Group Truth blog, which criticizes Baker for profiting through charlatanism (Baker claims that HIV status is unrelated […]

Bernie 2016 Joins Long Line of Campaign Committees Abusing Trademark Law to Suppress Criticism

What is it about presidential campaigns that brings out some of the worst examples of trademark bullying? Two years ago, we shot down bogus a trademark demand by the Ready for Hillary pre-campaign PAC, which tried to suppress Liberty Maniac's “Ready for Oligarchy” parody. (Readers of this blog may remember Liberty Maniacs (and its owner, […]