Author Archives: rtushnet

Reading list: Redskins as insult and brand

Posted on December 12, 2015 by rtushnet

C. Richard King, Redskins: Insult and Brand (2016) Passionate, if somewhat repetitive (as perhaps all moral calls to action are), argument about the poisonous nature of the Washington football team’s name. King argues that the name isn’t just about insulting … Continue reading →

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Reading list: empirically testing tarnishment of movies

Posted on December 9, 2015 by rtushnet

Christopher Buccafusco, Paul J. Heald, & Wen Bu, Testing Tarnishment in Trademark and Copyright Law: The Effect of Pornographic Versions of Protected Marks and Works:   This Article [reports] the results of two novel experiments designed to test the effects … Continue reading →

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6th Circuit holds that targeted ads are commercial advertising or promotion

Posted on December 8, 2015 by rtushnet

Grubbs v. Sheakley Gp., Inc., 2015 WL 7964109, — F.3d – (6th Cir. Dec. 7, 2015)   District court’s ruling covered here (with my raised eyebrow).  The court of appeals affirms the dismissal of the RICO claims (they’re RICO claims), … Continue reading →

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California claims against false use of “organic” not preempted

Posted on December 7, 2015 by rtushnet

Quesada v. Herb Thyme Farms, Inc., 2015 WL 7770635, No. S216305 (Cal. S.Ct. Dec. 3, 2015)   Labels matter to consumers, and misrepresentations on labels hurt consumers in their search for information and also disadvantage honest producers attempting to differentiate … Continue reading →

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is “this video has been removed for violating the ToS” commercial advertising?

Posted on December 7, 2015 by rtushnet

Darnaa, LLC v. Google, Inc., 2015 WL 7753406, No. 15-cv-03221 (N.D. Cal. Dec. 2, 2015)   Darnaa posted a music video, Cowgirl, to YouTube.  At one point, YouTube removed the video from its original location, later reposting it at a … Continue reading →

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Court mashes up Dastar and commercial speech doctrine to protect book from Lanham Act

Posted on December 7, 2015 by rtushnet

Keel v. Axelrod, No. 15-1507, 2015 WL 7733973 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 1, 2015)   Political operative David Axelrod wrote a book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics. Frank Keel, a political and media consultant, sued under state and federal law … Continue reading →

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Reading list: commercializing fanworks in the US and Japan

Posted on December 3, 2015 by rtushnet

Nele Noppe, Mechanisms of control in online fanwork sales: A comparison of Kindle Worlds and Dlsite.com, 12 Participations 218, 231 (2015) (citations and footnote omitted):   This research also suggests that while the establishment of Kindle Worlds may have been … Continue reading →

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EU public consultation on intermediary liability

Posted on December 3, 2015 by rtushnet

EU Delegation to the US, Public Workshop on the Digital Single Market Strategy, Consultation on Online Platforms, Cloud & Data, Liability of Intermediaries, Collaborative Economy   2003 Directive: recital says that there’s no prohibition for member states to come up … Continue reading →

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Amicus brief in visual meme case

Posted on December 2, 2015 by rtushnet

While I’m at it, Chris Sprigman and I filed a brief on behalf of IP professors in a case against Fox News for republishing a 9/11 meme on a Fox Facebook page, with commentary on the order of “Never Forget”–the … Continue reading →

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Amicus brief in karaoke case: Dastar revisited

Posted on December 2, 2015 by rtushnet

Mark McKenna (and I) filed an amicus brief on behalf of IP professors in another karaoke case, dealing with alleged infringement that consisted of displaying karaoke lyrics using unauthorized copies of the karaoke tracks, based on alleged trade dress in the audiovisual … Continue reading →

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