In re Cellco / Verizon (USA v. ASCAP): Behind the District Court Ruling that Customer Use of Ringtones Does Not Constitute a Public Performance

On October 14, Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York ruled that a cell phone service provider does not need a public performance license when it provides ringtones to its customers. The Copyright Act provides the owners of musical compositions are entitled to license fees when their works are "publicly" per

Hotel Safety for the Weary Traveler and a Reminder for the Rest of Us

"I'm sorry. We can't tell you that". Those seven words might have prevented TV personality Erin Andrews from the humiliation of nude videos going viral online.

Andrews, for

New York City Enacts Anti-Discrimination Rules for Locker Rooms and Rest Rooms

Beginning Monday, persons touring the city can access bathrooms, and locker rooms, that are in line with their sexual identification. The city's mayor, Bill de Blasio, signed the order which ensures people entrance to single-gender lavatories at city buildings such as offices, swimming sp

Google Sued For Illegally Scanning Emails

Several students and alumni from the University of California-Berkeley have filed a lawsuit against Google in federal court, alleging it illegally intercepted and scanned university emails for the purpose of advertising purposes. Google's Gmail service is use

More legal troubles for Chipotle

  As if the lawsuits following the food poisoning were not enough, Chipotle Mexican Grill is now in more legal trouble. This time it is to do with several sex discrimination charges in Cincinnati. Several former female managers have just filed suit against this fast food restaurant chain on allegations that they were wrongly terminated by a former manager who

Heartland Data Breach: Handicapping the Financial Institutions’ Suit In Light of Recent Class Actions

Financial institutions face an uncertain legal environment when they attempt to obtain reimbursement for losses associated with a data breach at a credit card processor. When a data breach at a credit card processor or large merchant occurs, financial institutions are often out millions of dollars associated with cancelling and r

HOA rules ban ‘For Sale’ signs

When Denise Hicks decided to sell her Lebanon home, she put a for sale sign in the front yard.A few days later she got a letter from the Home Owners Association warning her to take it down or risk being fined. According to the Spence Creek HOA, for sale and rent signs are prohibited. So are advertising flyers and posters and billboards of any kind. Hicks contracted with long time read more

US Government’s CPSC set to announce massive crib recall

The US Government’s Consumer Product Safety Commission plans to announce on Tuesday an expansive recall on cribs with dropdown sides. Both CBS News and ABC News in the U.S. have learned that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an independent federal agency, will announce a recall on cribs with dropdown sides in what could be the largest crib recall in U.S. history. A report issued by Consumer Correspondent Susan Koeppen on CBS’s “Early Show” indicated th

Swartz v. Doe: Tennessee Ruling Provides Clarity on Showing Needed to Uncover Identity of Anonymous Blogger in Defamation/Privacy Case

A Tennessee trial court adopted a version of the "heavy" Dendrite standard for permitting discovery of the identity of the anonymous poster of an allegedly defamatory blog. However, as interpreted by the trial court, this standard was not insuperable, and resulted in an order that the

Has the Roberts Court Killed Class Actions?

The Nation recently made the claim that the Supreme Court has made it virtually impossible to file a class action lawsuit. As evidence, several key cases were cited from the 2010-2011 term which are said to have had “far-reaching” implications on other would-be litigants who want to come together to pursue claims against big companies.  The cases included Wal-Mart v. Dukes