Author Archives: rtushnet

gray market material differences must come from products/warranties, not supply chain alone

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. v. Allen Interchange LLC, 2025 WL 465815, No. 22-cv-1681 (KMM/JFD) (D. Minn. Feb. 11, 2025) This discovery dispute says some interesting things about gray market goods. “This lawsuit involves claims and counterclaims between competitors selling … Continue reading

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delay bars ROP/Lanham Act claims when Facebook use was open and plaintiffs were aware of lots of unauthorized use

Davalos v. Baywaych Inc., 2024 WL 5344434, — F.Supp.3d —-, No. 21-11075-NMG (D. Mass. Sept. 30, 2024) The caption seems to be a typo, but it’s one of the many right of publicity etc. cases by models against adult clubs … Continue reading

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Dastar bars claim against allegedly false copyright/licensing claims used to extract money from public domain works

McKenzie v. Artists Rights Soc., Inc., 2024 WL 4803870, — F.Supp.3d —-, 2024 WL 4803870, 22 Civ. 1619 (JHR) (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 15, 2024) McKenzie is an art publisher that worked with the late artist Robert Indiana to create and produce … Continue reading

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literal falsity can exist even if there’s a strained “truthful” reading

Kopp Development, Inc. v. Metrasens, Inc, No. 1:21cv1216, 2025 WL 371303 (N.D. Ohio Feb. 3, 2025) Metrasens and plaintiff KDI compete in the market for ferromagnetic detectors, used to detect magnetic items (such as iron) on a person’s body or … Continue reading

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ambiguity over who was first African-American bourbon distiller in Kentucky dooms false advertising claim

Victory Global, LLC v. Fresh Bourbon, LLC, 2025 WL 366626, No. 5:21-62-KKC (E.D. Ky. Jan. 31, 2025) After dealing with a motion to dismiss, the court now grants summary judgment in this case brought by one African American-owned bourbon seller … Continue reading

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materiality surveys may not need controls

In re Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litig., No. 14-MD-2542 (VSB), 2025 WL 354671 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 30, 2025) This is a ruling on 19 motions to exclude expert testimony in this case, which is mostly an antitrust case; I … Continue reading

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WIPIP: Copyright: Incentives and the Digital Age

Tang, Creative Labor in the Age of Platform Capitalism Theories of expressive work and creativity: lead to idea that AI training itself is not a © problem b/c it doesn’t use work expressively. Past idea: digital creativity enhances autonomy by … Continue reading

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WIPIP: Innovation policy

Michael Burstein, The Law of the Direction of Innovation Foundational texts: NBER Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity, and revisited. But we need to ask: what innovation should we prioritize? What innovation, by whom, and for whom? These are contestable … Continue reading

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WIPIP: Copyright: Infringement & Enforcement

McFarlin, Restoring Joint Authorship We apply a separate accrual approach to © infringement: Petrella. But a one-time plain & express repudiation of joint authorship to a claim for accounting, Zuill, 9th Circuit. Should we continue to do so? Chuck Berry … Continue reading

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WIPIP: IP for the Larger World

Koo, De-Colonising Copyright Law Is fair use even possible outside the US? If we want to export fair use, what is it we actually want to export? Many US academics many not think it’s the greatest idea—if we had a … Continue reading

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