Balough
August 11, 2017
(August 11, 2017) Facebook did not violate a country-rap singer’s right of publicity by allowing third parties to place ads on pages that contained critical comments about the singer. Country rap artist Mikel Knight, whose real name is Jason Cross, sued Facebook alleging six causes of action. Three of the causes of action were dismissed […]
Balough
July 24, 2014
A lawsuit by John Travolta’s former pilot to determine if a confidentiality agreement bars the pilot from telling all about his personal relationship with the movie star is staying alive after a California appellate court affirmed the denial of Travolta’s SLAPP motion. Douglas Gotterba was an airplane pilot for Alto, Inc., which provided Travolta with […]
Balough
March 17, 2014
An advertising campaign soliciting former dental patents as potential clients for a law firm is commercial speech, which is not protected under the Texas anti-SLAPP statute. The law firm, Mauze & Bagby, P.L.L.C. (M&B) “ran television, radio, and internet advertisements and developed a website that strongly implied, or even accused, Kool Smiles of performing unnecessary, […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
Comments made by a condominium association president following a public meeting with a Chicago alderman is protected by the Illinois Citizen Participation Act. As a result, the defendant can recover attorneys’ fees under the Illinois anti-SLAPP statute even where the defamation case was dismissed because the underlying statement was not actionable. A condominium developer sued the […]
Balough
December 15, 2013
Electronic Arts, Inc.’s use of likenesses of former NCAA football players in NCAA Football are too close to the real athletes to be protected by the First Amendment, a California federal court found. A former NCAA quarterback brought a case against the NCAA and Electronic Arts (EA) alleging that, by incorporating his likeness into video […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
A village trustee can obtain the name of an anonymous internet poster who allegedly posted defamatory statements about her son during a contested election campaign. The poster, Hipcheck 16, made the posts on a website of a local newspaper during Buffalo Grove trustee Lisa Stone’s election campaign. The trustee sought the name of the poster […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
A publisher who worked with a hedge fund to write negative reports on Overstock.com may be sued for defamation. A California appellate court found that Overstock.com, Inc., alleged sufficient facts to overcome a motion to dismiss the complaint based upon California’s SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) statute. Overstock.com claims in its lawsuit that Gradient […]
