Patent trolls, open source, do not track, SOPA, PIPA and much, much more: Facebook’s IPO filing has a real zoo of issues. The securities laws require that companies going public identify risk factors that could adversely affect the company’s stock. Facebook’s S-1 filing, which it sent to the SEC today, identified almost 40 such factors. [...]
Archive for the ‘Right of Publicity’ Category
Video game maker scores First Amendment win in right of publicity case
September 13th, 2011
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Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc. — F.Supp.2d —, 2011 WL 4005350 (D.N.J. September 9, 2011) Former Rutgers quarterback Ryan Hart sued Electronic Arts (“EA”), the maker of the very popular video game NCAA Football, alleging misappropriation of his right of publicity under New Jersey law. EA moved to dismiss. Treating the filing as one for [...]
Use of name and image in YouTube clip did not support right of publicity claim
July 7th, 2010
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Fuentes v. Mega Media Holdings, Inc. 2010 WL 2634512 (S.D. Fla. June 30, 2010) Plaintiff is a famous Cuban author who has written extensively about Raul Castro and other members of the Castro regime. The producers of the Maria Elvira Live show used plaintiff’s name and image in the content of one of the show’s [...]
Shame on you, Facebook, for overreaching
February 17th, 2009
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Facebook, I hereby grant to you an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use the following content: “Go jump in a lake.” The past few days people have been talking about how scandalous it is that Facebook changed its terms of service to grab up a very [...]
No personal jurisdiction over Australian defendant in Flickr right of publicity case
January 22nd, 2009
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Chang v. Virgin Mobile USA, LLC, 2009 WL 111570 (N.D.Tex. January 16, 2009) Allison Chang (through her mother, since Allison is a minor) and Justin Ho-Wee Wong sued Australian-based Virgin Mobile Pty Ltd. alleging a number of tort claims including misappropriation of Chang’s right of publicity. Plaintiffs claimed that Virgin wrongfully used Chang’s picture in [...]
Borat movie plaintiff not successful in image appropriation case
April 22nd, 2008
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[Brian Beckham is a contributor to Internet Cases and can be contacted at brian.beckham [at] gmail dot com.] Lemerond v. 20th Century Fox, No. 07-4635, 2008 WL 918579 (S.D.N.Y. March 31, 2008) In the movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, the fictional Kazakh character (alter ego of comedian [...]
Court sides with the late James Brown in right of publicity case against Corbis
August 8th, 2007
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Publication of photo on website not a “continuing violation” in right of publicity case
December 31st, 2006
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This post is by Greg Smith, a contributor to Internet Cases. [Bio] In Blair v. Nevada Landing Partnership, a casino worker sued his former employer, claiming that the casino used a photograph of him in various marketing materials and later, without authorization, on the casino’s website. Although the plaintiff consented to the photograph when it [...]
