Balough
December 13, 2013
Pebble Beach (without a golf course in the United Kingdom) cannot be sued in the United States for trademark infringement over its website by Pebble Beach (the one with the golf course in the US). The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that as long as Pebble Beach in the UK maintains only a passive […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Kinderstart.com’s complaint against Google, Inc. for monopolistic practices and unfair competition failed to meet the grade, a trial court has ruled. Kinderstart.com sued Google for attempted monopolization, unfair competition and defamation and libel after the portal was blocked by Google’s page rank. Kinderstart said in 2000 it was “one of the choicest Internet destinations for […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Motion picture studios can prevent companies from selling “cleaned-up” versions of motion pictures since such editing infringes on the studios’ copyrights. In its ruling, the Colorado District Court rejected establishing a policy to allow such editing to provide “more socially acceptable alternatives to enable families to view the films together, without exposing children to the […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Comparing your goods to your competitor’s as the difference between dried cream cheese and real Parmigiano is not libelous but saying your competitor’s integrity is the same as the Iraq information officer can be libelous, an Illinois appellate court said. The issue arose over an advertisement in the Chicago Sun-Times by Cosmo’s Designer Direct, Inc. […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
The “fair reporting” privilege for documents filed with a court trumps actual malice as long as the report is an accurate summary of the pleadings, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled. The court said the privilege starts from the time a pleading is filed with the court. There does not have to be any court action […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A blogger who allows others to post messages on his site is not a “publisher” of defamatory statements, thanks to the Communications Decency Act, a Pennsylvania District Court found. The court dismissed a libel action against Tucker Max, a Duke Law School graduate, who describes his goal in life to be “a celebrity that gets […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was out of step when it loaded the RUMBA program into all of its 6,000 computers when it had a license for only half that number, making it liable for copyright infringement. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s finding and rejected claims by the LASD that loading […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
It is protected speech for players to criticize their high school basketball coach but the players’ refusal to play in the game is not. However, whether the school can permanently ban the students from the team depends upon if the ban is based upon the students’ exercise of their free speech rights or their refusal […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
It’s OK again to heckle a referee in Georgia-thanks to the Georgia Supreme Court. The Georgia Supreme Court struck down a law that made it a misdemeanor if a person “recklessly or knowingly commits any act which may reasonably be expected to prevent or disrupt a lawful meeting, gathering, or procession.” The court found that […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A high school can ban a t-shirt that displays a purportedly religious message against homosexuality in response to a day intended to “teach tolerance of others, particularly those of a different sexual orientation.” The t-shirt read “BE ASHAMED, OUR SCHOOL EMBRACED WHAT GOD HAS CONDEMNED” on the front and “HOMOSEXUALITY IS SHAMEFUL” on the back. […]
