9th Circuit clarifies that Rogers v. Grimaldi covers news/political speech, not just "art"
43(B)log
NOVEMBER 14, 2022
Logical, but this is the clearest statement yet. Opinion here. The court also clarifies that, when Gordon v.
news speeches 
What the Dominion Voting Systems Case Could Mean for the FOX NEWS Trademark
IP Watchdog
APRIL 25, 2023
The Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit against Fox News attracted lots of attention. billion, the role of the First Amendment, and the press’ right to free speech were all key talking points around this lawsuit. What was not a part of these discussions were the implications to Fox’s trademark, FOX NEWS®.
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Copyright Parody Exception Denied Due to Defendant’s Discriminatory Use
TorrentFreak
JANUARY 17, 2024
Three members were previously arrested for alleged obscenity violations but were eventually acquitted after the men received support from freedom of speech activists. Free Speech Has Limits A criminal copyright infringement trial that concluded in Finland this week also saw the defendant rely on a fair use-style parody defense.
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Government Gaslighting Again?: Unpacking the Uncomfortable Reality of the Online Harms Act
Michael Geist
MARCH 13, 2024
Those bills, which addressed Internet streaming and news, faced widespread criticism over potential regulation of user content and the prospect of blocked news links on major Internet platforms.
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Trademark suit threats to shut down free speech? Shocking.
Likelihood of Confusion
FEBRUARY 19, 2024
Kansas City infoZine News reports (link added): The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) warned the Chicago Auto Show to back off attempts to muzzle protestors [sic] who posted a parody of the show’s website. appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.
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Unequal Speech: How to Explain the Contradictory Criticism of the CRTC Radio-Canada Decision and Support for Bill C-11
Michael Geist
JULY 7, 2022
The outpouring has left me struggling to reconcile the seeming hypocrisy of politicians who warn about the dangers of CRTC speech regulation even as they have been the most ardent supporters of Bill C-11, eager to pass resolutions that call on the federal government to enact legislation empowering the CRTC to regulate user content.
Government 98
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Stossel v. Meta Platforms: The continuous fight against disinformation
IPilogue
NOVEMBER 11, 2022
Therefore, to safeguard freedom of speech, some jurisdictions have enacted anti-SLAPP laws. To combat “fake news,” governments must carefully regulate social media content. Briefly stated, SLAPP lawsuits seek to suppress and stifle critics to force them to cease voicing their opposition. Further Reading.
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Pirate Site FMovies Rivals Major Streaming Platforms in U.S. Web Traffic
TorrentFreak
APRIL 15, 2024
Last week, MPA CEO Charles Rivkin used his keynote speech at CinemaCon to double down on this demand, urging U.S. At a previous hearing in Congress, MPA’s Karyn Temple already gave lawmakers a walkthrough of the popular pirate streaming site FMovies and, in his CinemaCon speech, Rivkin put the same site under the spotlight.
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Plagiarizing University President Avoids Termination
Plagiarism Today
OCTOBER 21, 2021
Evans, who was hired for the job in November 2020, gave a freshman convocation speech to a mix of students and faculty on September 15. However, as the speech went on, it became clear that many of the words he was speaking were not his own and not attributed in the speech. A Difficult Argument to Make. University Photo of Evans.
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Election Year Fight Looms Over Copyright Legislation; Issues Reflect Creators’ Concerns and Industry Biases
IP Close Up
JUNE 28, 2022
Are internet content aggregators little more than public utilities or must they take a more active part in combating fake news and hate speech carried Continue reading.
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The Copyright Legacy of Martin Luther King
Copyright Lately
JANUARY 13, 2023
They are, of course, from King’s famous 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech. But as you celebrate his life and listen to his words, ask yourself this question: have you ever heard the whole speech? King’s estate sued CBS, which had produced a documentary containing 60% of his “Dream” speech. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Reddit Reports Surge in Copyright-Related User Bans
TorrentFreak
APRIL 17, 2024
Last month, the community-driven news and discussion platform went public and, with a market cap of more than $6 billion, immediately became one of the larger tech players. subpoenas, but in this case, it argued that the requests violated users’ constitutional right to anonymous speech. The company does typically respond to U.S.
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Tensions Between Filmmakers and Reddit Grow in Piracy Dispute
TorrentFreak
MARCH 7, 2023
The social discussion platform largely rejected this request, arguing it would violate their users’ First Amendment Right to anonymous speech. However, it’s in the news now. Reddit still refuses to hand over the information, however, in order to protect the anonymous speech of its users.
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Liberal Party Policy Proposal Would Limit Online Publication to Material “Whose Sources Can Be Traced”
Michael Geist
MAY 5, 2023
The notion that the problem with the media is the lack of government funding to enable a shift to ad-free news misdiagnosis the misinformation challenge as one linked primarily to advertising. Ironically, it would entrench existing media outlets and limit new news outlets and innovation. Is it online-only news sources?
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Trademarks as a Barrier to Free-Speech: An Examination of the MetaBirkins Dispute
SpicyIP
AUGUST 22, 2022
We are pleased to bring our readers a guest post by Abhijay Srekanth and Vivek Basanagoudar on interaction of trademarks with free speech. Trademarks as a Barrier to Free-Speech: An Examination of the MetaBirkins Dispute. B) All forms of news reporting and news commentary. (C) C) Any non-commercial use of a mark.
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Reddit Doesn’t Have to Share IP-Addresses of Piracy Commenters, Court Rules
TorrentFreak
FEBRUARY 8, 2024
Reddit refused to cooperate, defending their users’ right to anonymous speech, and found a California federal court in agreement. Reddit, again, refused to hand over information, arguing it would violate users’ right to anonymous speech. In a second attempt a few weeks later, several film companies sent a similar subpoena to Reddit.
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Saturday Sundries
The IPKat
JANUARY 20, 2024
IP events, news, and opportunities are continuously announced as the end of January rapidly approaches. Allan James, Senior Hearing Officer at the UK IPO, will give the keynote speech. Other news and opportunities Call for papers: Prof. Check them out! Events Seminar ‘From the Batmobile to Mickey Mouse via Pippi Longstocking’.
Section 230 Doesn’t Apply to High Schoolers’ Online Bullying–Kutchinski v. Freeland Community School District
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
JUNE 9, 2023
.” HK sued the school district for free speech deprivations. The court summarizes its application of Mahanoy and some precedent cases involving group bullying online: when a student causes, contributes to, or affirmatively participates in harmful speech, the student bears responsibility for the harmful speech.
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Film Companies and Reddit Clash Again in Court over Anonymous Piracy Comments
TorrentFreak
JANUARY 11, 2024
Reddit only handed over the details of one user whose comment mentioned RCN directly, denying the rest to protect users’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech. The court eventually agreed with this defense, concluding that Redditors’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech outweighs the interest of rightsholders.
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Reddit: IP Address Disclosure Puts User Anonymity At Risk
TorrentFreak
JANUARY 24, 2024
Instead, the company objected , arguing that handing over the requested information would violate their users’ right to anonymous speech. This second attempt wasn’t successful either, and Redditors’ right to anonymous speech prevailed once again. In their latest motion to compel, the rightsholders introduce a new angle.
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Film Companies Counter Reddit: “An IP Address is Not a Person”
TorrentFreak
JANUARY 30, 2024
So, when Reddit recently defended the anonymous speech of its users in a piracy-related case , arguing that an IP address is “identifying information,” Voltage knew what its response should be. In a reply, the filmmakers counter that sharing the IP addresses of the Reddit users doesn’t violate their anonymous speech rights.
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Filmmakers Take Reddit to Court Again to Unmask ‘Piracy’ Commenters
TorrentFreak
JUNE 21, 2023
Reddit only handed over the details of one user whose comment mentioned RCN, denying other ‘less relevant’ ones, while citing the users’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech. The court eventually agreed with this defense, concluding that Redditors’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech outweighs the interest of rightsholders.
What the CRTC’s New Registration Requirements Mean for Regulating Everything from Online News Services to Podcast Providers
Michael Geist
OCTOBER 2, 2023
By contrast, the inclusion of registration requirements for a wide range of undertakings, including some podcast services, online news sites, adult content sites, and social media left some characterizing it as a podcast registry or part of “one of the world’s most repressive online censorship schemes.” So what’s the reality?
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Penguin Random House CEO Funds PEN America Fight Against Book Bans
Velocity of Content
FEBRUARY 17, 2022
On Wednesday, Pen America announced that Penguin Random House CEO Markus Dohle had pledged at least $500,000 for the free-speech organization to combat threats of book bans and educational gag orders across the US. Penguin Random House is the book’s publisher. “In
Ethics in the Media – IJE Seminar
Likelihood of Confusion
AUGUST 22, 2021
Ethics in the Media: Fake News, Free Speech, Censorship, Libel & Slander - American Law & Talmudic Ethics. The post Ethics in the Media – IJE Seminar appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.
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Law Enforcement’s Efforts to Scrub COVID “Misinformation” Online Violated the First Amendment–Cohoon v. Konrath
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
SEPTEMBER 25, 2021
There was no nuance to the law enforcement effort to censor speech; it was the raw exercise of government power, coupled with a realistic threat of incarceration for noncompliance. The notion that the long arm of the government—redaction pen in hand—can extend to this sort of incomplete speech is plainly wrong.
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Never Too Late: If you missed the IPKat last week!
The IPKat
APRIL 22, 2024
If you were too busy enjoying the spring sunshine to follow the IP news last week , here's the summary of what you missed. This year, the keynote speech will be delivered by Allan James, Senior Hearing Officer at the UKIPO. Patents A Kat enjoying her time in the sun. Image from Pixabay. This Kat looks forward to seeing you there!
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Ninth Circuit: Commercial Brand Names Can Be Expressive Speech
IP Tech Blog
NOVEMBER 30, 2022
AJ Press, LLC , the Ninth Circuit affirmed a trademark win for upstart news outfit Punchbowl News. That news splashed a bit of cold water on Punchbowl’s apparent expansion of fair use defenses heralded above. In Punchbowl, Inc. VIP Products LLC. Background. Punchbowl, Inc. Cheese, and Dave & Busters. insider’s perspective.”
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Court Protects Redditors’ Right to Anonymous Speech in Piracy Case
TorrentFreak
MAY 1, 2023
As such, Reddit only handed over the details of one user whose comment mentioned RCN, denying other ‘less relevant’ ones, citing the users’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech. From the get-go, the Judge said that she was inclined to deny the motion to compel, thereby protecting the Redditors’ right to anonymous speech.
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The First Amendment Limits Trademark Rights, But How?–Jack Daniel’s v. Bad Spaniels (Guest Blog Post)
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
APRIL 3, 2023
VIP Products LLC ] A trademark dispute at the Supreme Court involving a dog chew toy and a famous brand of whisky may have serious implications for trademark and free speech rights. Both types of speech are protected by the First Amendment if they are not fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading.
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Preemptive Challenge to California’s Mandatory Editorial Transparency Law Lacks Standing–Minds v. Bonta
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
AUGUST 27, 2023
Tim Pool, the Babylon Bee, and National Religious Broadcasters, which are (respectively): “a social networking app, an active social media content creator, a satirical news website, and a nonpartisan association of Christian communicators.” Mandatory transparency laws reliably chill speech in exactly the way the court describes.
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Reddit Asks Court to Protect Users’ Anonymity in Third-Party Piracy Lawsuit
TorrentFreak
MARCH 2, 2023
As such, Reddit only handed over the details of one user whose comment mentioned RCN, denying other ‘less relevant’ ones, citing the users’ First Amendment right to anonymous speech. According to the discussion platform, courts have repeatedly protected people’s First Amendment right to anonymous speech.
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Court Orders Telegram to Disclose Personal Details of Pirating Users
TorrentFreak
AUGUST 31, 2022
Telegram also brought up the Indian constitution, which protects people’s privacy, as well as the right to freedom of speech and expression. From: TF , for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more. However, that defense was unsuccessful too.
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YouTube Copyright ID Claims Reach a New High
TorrentFreak
JULY 9, 2023
“Sometimes this takes the form of political actors attempting to censor political speech or companies stifling criticism of their products or practices. In addition to money-driven schemes, copyright takedown abuse can also have a political or competitive angle. ” 99.5%
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That special something that says “infringement”
Likelihood of Confusion
JUNE 3, 2022
Paul Alan Levy sends along this heartwarming news about the Jenzabar case: In a ruling this week, a Massachusetts trial judge upheld the free speech rights of a documentary filmmaking company. The post That special something that says “infringement” appeared first on LIKELIHOOD OF CONFUSION™.
Weaponizing DMCA’s: How Copyright Systems are Being Abused to Restrict Speech
IPilogue
SEPTEMBER 22, 2022
Then, a company called UNFT News copied those articles and published them on their website but post-dated them. UNFT News then issued multiple DMCA claims against Bursgerburg using DMCA.com. 1) Groups acting as large-scale operations trying to remove critical news articles. of fraudulent DMCA notices.
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ChatGPT & Information Integrity
Velocity of Content
APRIL 3, 2023
ChatGPT and other sophisticated chatbots amaze us by how they mimic human speech with remarkable fluency. These generative AI tools can write school papers and science fiction novels, as well as news reporting and scholarly papers, all practically indistinguishable from those by human authors.
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3 Count: Second Bite
Plagiarism Today
NOVEMBER 30, 2021
The lawsuit was filed by a pair of photographers that allege Instagram enabled infringement of their photos by allowing them to be embedded on third-party websites, including major news publications. 3: Meet The Songwriters Behind The Best Song On Lindsey Buckingham’s New Album.
Watch Tower vs. McFree: Nonprofit Defends Critic’s Fair Use & Anonymity Rights
TorrentFreak
MARCH 19, 2022
That raises the question of whether the DMCA is being used for copyright enforcement or simply as a tool to crack down on anonymous speech by so-called ‘apostates’ Silencing an Apostate. In 2018 , Watch Tower sought to silence that speech by filing a DMCA subpoena application to obtain his personal details.
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As Government Moves to Cut Off Bill C-18 Debate, the Reality is Artificial Intelligence Renders Bill Already Out of Date
Michael Geist
JUNE 20, 2023
The Online News Act, the government’s legislative initiative to make Google and Meta pay hundreds of Canadian media companies for links to their news content, is likely to become law before politicians break for the summer later this week. The bill will likely be passed by the House by mid-week.
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“This Bill Reminds Me of the Maginot Line”: The Bill C-10 Debate Arrives at the Senate
Michael Geist
JUNE 24, 2021
The bottom line on these Senate maneuvers: Bill C-10 received second reading from Senator Dennis Dawson , followed by a pair of speeches on the bill from Senators Tony Loffreda and Paula Simons. The speeches are likely to continue on Monday, after which the bill will be sent to committee. It does not limit your free speech.
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Survey Says: Why the Government Reacted With Alarm to a Critical Opinion Poll on the Online News Act
Michael Geist
OCTOBER 15, 2022
On the very first day of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage’s hearings on the Online News Act last month, News Media Canada, the lead lobbyist for Bill C-18, was asked about a poll it commissioned this year which found 79% support requiring Google and Facebook to share revenue with Canadian news outlets.
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Sunday Surprises
The IPKat
MARCH 24, 2024
Spring has sprung bringing along the latest news of the week. In occasion of the first anniversary of the Unified Patent Court (UPC), the President of the UPC Court of Appeal will deliver the keynote speech during the morning session. Launch of the Journal of AI Law and Regulation (AIRe) The Journal of AI Law and Regulation is on.
political speech isn't covered by Lanham Act but is protected by Cal anti-SLAPP law
43(B)log
MARCH 18, 2022
The court rejected Mosafer’s argument that the speech was unprotected because the activities of which they complain were illegal under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Claims under these statutes can reach only commercial speech.” The statements were political speech.
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