News & Media
Alleged Copyright Troll's Day in Court
No matter your opinion on U.S. copyright law, it is the law of the land. Copying a work without consent may be unlawful and subject the copier to damages. On this blog, and others, we’ve seen instances of legitimate and illegitimate copyright claims. An entirely separate issue is the manner by which copyright claims are enforced. In the U.S. District
Revenge porn site founder loses $250k defamation suit
ArsTechnica published an article about a Clark County Court judgment against IsAnyoneUp site founder Hunter Moore for comments he made about Bullyville.com founder James McGibney. Randazza Legal Group represented McGibney in the lawsuit, which resulted in a $250,000 judgment against Moore. Of the judgment, attorney Marc Randazza said, As you can see in the judgment, this was not just a
Alleged Copyright Troll Sues Critics
By Jay Wolman In a page out of Rakofsky vs. The Internet, it appears that one of the law firms and attorney groups frequently criticized as representing copyright trolls, Paul Duffy, John Steele, and Prenda Law, has gone on the offense against its critics. More details here: Prenda Law, John Steele, and Paul Duffy file suit against Alan Cooper, his
Drones and Privacy Rights
By Jay Wolman Shameless plug: I appeared on Fox 25 Boston last night discussing issues relating to privacy rights and personal use drones that take surveillance video. Link to the article, with video, is here: http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/21202581/2013/02/14/privacy-concerns-rise-as-personal-drone-market-expands And a companion piece I wrote: http://www.bostonbusinesslitigation.com/technology/unmanned-drones-and-the-right-to-privacy/
The American Conservative on Copyright Reform
By J. DeVoy Following up on the leaked Republican Study Committee report on copyright law reform from a few months ago, The American Conservative offers this analysis on the political right’s flirtation with scaling back certain copyright protections, such as the duration of copyright and statutory damages of up to $150,000 that can be wielded like a cudgel against small-time
The de-fanging of 17 U.S.C. § 512(f)
When a university student performed fellatio in a photobooth at her sorority’s formal ball, she probably wasn’t thinking about copyright issues. When the images were, unbeknownst to her, uploaded onto facebook, she probably wasn’t thinking about the fact that the person who captured the images took the rights, or the complexity of who may own the images, depending on how
Revenge porn website operator accused of 'catfishing' to trick woman into sending him nude photos so he upload to site
Daily Mail reports on Randazza Legal Group’s efforts to combat revenge porn websites. IsAnybodyDown.com operator Craig Brittain was accused by two women of impersonating an online identity in order to get nude photos from them and post them on the website. Attorney Marc Randazza has been suing the operators of the websites for copyright infringement on behalf of the victims.
Score Another One for Porn
By J. DeVoy Pubic lice (better known as “crabs”) aren’t necessarily going extinct, but reported cases are way down due to brazilian waxing and the pubic grooming trends staked out by the porn industry.
Marc Randazza on Steubenville Rape, Defamation, and the Limits to Free Speech
Attorney Marc Randazza recently appeared on Reason.tv to discuss the Steubenville rape case, in which Randazza acted as consulting attorney. Randazza says: The law needs to look at journalism as a thing you do, not journalists as a thing you are. Watch More…
Reason TV Interview
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv_CGlzRPhw]
PSA: Use Caution When You Trim Your Junk
According to the Today Show, “pubic hair grooming injuries jumped five-fold between 2000 and 2010.” Good god, people! Be careful down there!
A "separate prom" to avoid homosexuals – homassholes lose
In Sullivan, Indiana, the local high school declined to ban gays and lesbians from bringing their same-sex dates to the prom. So, a group of “christian” students and their parents decided to have an “alternate prom,” where the queers wouldn’t go fagging up the place. Or something like that. (source) To help “preserve their beliefs,” parents, students, and other homasssholes
Now this is horrible….
USA Today Reports: PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AP) — A mob stripped, tortured and bound a woman accused of witchcraft, then burned her alive in front of hundreds of witnesses in a Papua New Guinea town, police said Friday after one of the highest profile sorcery-related murders in this South Pacific island nation. … Kepari Leniata, a 20-year-old mother,
Revenge porn is “just entertainment,” says owner of IsAnybodyDown
Ars Technica writes about a CBS interview with the proprietor of revenge porn site IsAnybodyDown and the attorney representing some of the victims of the site, Marc Randazza. Randazza says: I can tell you, there are a number of people ready to file suit as soon as their copyright registration comes in the mail […] I told this guy I was coming for
Viva Hatuey!
On this day in 1512, the Spanish killed Hatuey, the Taíno chief. He led an armed insurrection in Hispaniola for about 10 years, and then in 1511 he and 400 resistance fighters landed in Cuba, hoping to raise an armed insurrection against the Spanish. The Dominican priest Bartolomé de Las Casas documented Hatuey’s motivation: “The intruders worship gold, fight and
Required Reading – Jordan Rushie on Wisdom
Jordan Rushie writes about what a moron he was as a young associate in, Hubris. I must confess some bias here. I represent Rushie in one little matter. I am co-counsel with him on multiple matters. But, this piece is why I am proud to call him a colleague. Achievements are great. I have had enough of them to know
Social media prohibition held unconstitutional
By Andrew J. Contiguglia The 7th Circuit court of appeals Wednesday declared an outright ban on social media usage by convicted sex offenders to be a violation of the First Amendment. At the crux of the arguments is the public’s right to be protected from convicted sex offenders and the offender’s right to send and receive information – a core,
Richard Marx takes on small time blogger… Marx wins.
Small time blogger writes something mildly lame about Richard Marx. Richard Marx appears to get overly bent out of shape about it. Marx and blogger go back and forth. And, just when you think you want to root for the little guy, just when you think this is a case of someone being thin-skinned, Richard Marx wins you over… or
Drunk Driving Permits
In Ireland, County Kerry Councillor Danny Healy-Rae proposed changing the law to allow drunk driving permits to rural inhabitants. (source) Crazy? Crazier still, it PASSED! Mind you, I don’t really think it is crazy. In fact, I think that Mr. Healy-Rae is brilliant. I don’t know much about Ireland’s drunk driving laws, but I know that ours are a constitutional
Mike Masnick Proven Right!
Masnick, over at TechDirt has a philosophy that, if you oversimplify it, boils down to “even if people give your stuff away for free, you can still make money charging for it if you give superior service.” Here is proof that he is right. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJfYAJJYMqg] Well, I dunno… Mike also says stuff like “if you can’t compete with free, [something
