Archive for the ‘internet’ Category
May 3, 2013
Daniel J. Gervais (Vanderbilt University – Law School), Martin L. Holmes (Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein L.L.P.), Paul W. Kruse (Bone McAllester Norton PLLC), Glenn Perdue (Kraft Analytics, LLC) and Caprice L. Roberts (Savannah Law School) have published “Is Profiting from the Online Use of Another’s Property Unjust? The Use of Brand Names as Paid Search Keywords”, IDEA: The IP Law Review, Vol. 53, p. 131, 2013. The abstract reads:
This article begins with a basic question: Is Google’s profiting from the use of another’s brand in its AdWords program unjust? Answering that question will profoundly affect the online economy. Indeed, many services, including most of those offered by Google, are funded by advertising revenue, a large portion of which comes from the sale of third-party brand names. Academic articles and court opinions thus far have applied trademark law when evaluating liability. The consensus view, including the Fourth Circuit’s recent Rosetta Stone opinion, finds no infringement by Google — third-party purchasers of AdWords may be liable for dilution or infringement claims — even though Google profits from every sale while brand owners often suffer a prejudice from the sale and use of their brand name. If one agrees that this misuse is a wrong that must be remedied, are there other avenues to explore beyond the strictures of trademark law? The law usually takes a dim view of one who uses a third party’s property without authorization and yet in the case of AdWords, it has not — at least not up to now.
This inconsistency arises from a failure to reach beyond the limits of trademark law in search of a remedy. After evaluating several legal and equitable bases for a remedy and surveying the preemption question as it interfaces with trademark law, the authors advance unjust enrichment as the best legal basis of liability and remedy for the unauthorized, profitable and therefore wrongful use of another’s property. Such a remedy would impose reasonable limits on the use of brand names in AdWords.
A copy of the paper is available for download via SSRN here.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags:AdWords, Brand, Google, Google Analytics, Law, Rosetta Stone, Search, Search Engines
Posted in AdWords, dilution, Google, internet, internet law, Internet Service Providers, keywords, restitution, third-party brand names, trademark infringement, unjust enrichment | Leave a Comment »
March 13, 2013
Kelly Lynn Anders has published “Ethical Exits: When Lawyers and Judges Must Sever Ties on Social Media”, Charleston Law Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, Winter 2012-2013. The abstract reads:
This article addresses the very recent trend of requiring lawyers and judges to sever ties on social media, the professional implications of doing so, relevant rules governing judicial and attorney conduct, and a discussion of “best practices” for lawyers and judges to follow when social media connections must be broken. Recent opinions from states that have issued social media directives in this area will also be discussed, along with a brief overview of three of the most commonly used social media sites at the time of the publication of this article – Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Through this discussion and analysis, one theme will continue to resurface – the increasingly pressing need for guidance and clarity in the MRPC and MRJC so that expectations involving social media connections will be clear, uniform, and much easier to manage for lawyers, judges, and anyone with whom they may communicate, either professionally or personally. Such clear-cut guidance would also decrease the need for severing ties that should not have been formed in the first place, thereby also serving to contribute to the preservation of solid and favorable reputations of all jurists and counselors in an increasingly virtual world.
Download a pdf copy of the article via SSRN here.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags:American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Facebook, Lawyer, LinkedIn, MRJC, MRPC, Social media, Twitter
Posted in ABA, American Bar Association, ethics, Facebook, internet, internet law, Judge, judging, Kelly Lynn Anders, LinkedIn, MRJC, MRPC, social media, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
February 4, 2013
Catherine R. Gellis (Digital Age Defense) has published “2012 State of the Law Regarding Internet Intermediary Liability for User-Generated Content“, Business Lawyer, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2012 which contains a summary of key cases regarding 47 U.S.C. Section 230 and 17 U.S.C. Section 512.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags:Blog, Communications Decency Act, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Internet service provider, Law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, United States, User-generated content
Posted in 17 U.S.C. Section 512, 47 U.S.C. Section 230, blawging, Blawgosphere, blawgs, blog, communications, hyperlinking, intermediaries, intermediary liability, internet, internet defamation, internet jurisdiction, internet law, Internet Service Providers, Online Defamation, Section 230, user-generated content, website | Leave a Comment »
January 10, 2013
Elizabeth F. Judge (University of Ottawa – Faculty of Law (Common Law)) has posted “Curious Judge: Judicial Notice of Facts, Independent Judicial Research, and the Impact of the Internet”, Annual Review of Civil Litigation, pp. 325-350, Honourable Mr. Justice Todd L. Archibald Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) and the Late Honourable Mr. Justice Randall Scott Echlin, eds., 2012. The abstract reads:
Judicial notice allows uncontroversial facts to be established without evidentiary proof. The facts must either themselves be beyond dispute because they are “notorious” (that is, generally known within the community) or they must be able to be referenced in easily accessed sources whose accuracy is beyond dispute. Judicial notice is an especially vexing topic because it goes to the heart of the epistemological inquiry of the adversarial process and the nature of the judicial function. Judicial notice implicates the allocation of responsibilities for fact finding between the parties and the court, between the judge and the jury, between the court of first instance and the appellate bodies, and between the courts and the legislature; how fact finders engage in ordinary reasoning processes to decide what a fact is; the distinction between adjudicative and legislative facts and their respective roles; and due process concerns for one or both parties. The rules governing judicially noticed facts are especially sensitive because whenever a fact is judicially noticed it is not subject to the ordinary processes for testing evidence, such as oaths and cross examination, and thus the rules implicate concerns about fairness to the parties and accuracy. For a common law precedential system, these concerns are particularly acute.
Drawing on American and Commonwealth commentators, this article provides a detailed analysis of the general theory and policy of judicial notice and the role of judicial notice in the adversarial system. The article then turns to a discussion of the practice of independent judicial research and an examination of the impact of the internet on judicial notice. The article analyses the laws and policies governing judicial notice of facts and independent judicial research in Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada’s legal framework. It examines independent judicial research and, most pertinently for modern practices of judicial notice, appropriate uses of internet search tools and online sources in the context of judicial notice. It considers how the internet is affecting key aspects pertaining to the judicial notice of facts: first, what “notoriety” and “community” mean; and second, what counts as an authoritative reference. The paper concludes by addressing how the internet, including search engines and online content, may affect the traditional framework for judicial notice of facts.
A copy of the paper is available for download via SSRN here.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags:Canada, Civil procedure, Internet, Judges, Judicial Notice, Jurisdiction, Law, Social media
Posted in Civil Litigation, courts, Courts of Justice Act, evidence, internet, internet law, Judge, judging, judgments, judicial decision-making, judicial discretion, judicial notice, procedural rights, procedure, Procedure vs. Substance, social media | Leave a Comment »
January 10, 2013
Matthew M. Pagett (North Carolina Court of Appeals) has posted “Sticks, Stones, and Cyberspace: On Cyberbullying and the Limits of Student Speech”, UNC School of Government School Law Bulletin 2012/2, December 2012. Here’s the abstract:
This article discusses cyberbullying in public schools and evaluates the pertinent statutory and common law standards. In particular, the article focuses on the relevant North Carolina statutory law and the extent to which school officials may punish students for cyberbullying behavior. The author also reviews the relevant Supreme Court standards as they apply to this particular factual scenario.
A pdf copy of the article is available for download on SSRN here.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted in cyber-bullying, cyber-harassment, cyberlaw, First Amendment, free speech, Freedom of expression, freedom of speech, internet, internet law | Leave a Comment »
Antonin I. Pribetic
