Malibu Media, the porn company known more for its litigious leanings then for its flesh-filled films, has filed more than 4,000 lawsuits since 2009 against people who allegedly shared Malibu porn online illegally. A new report that compares Malibu’s legal actions to those of other lawsuit-happy copyright defenders helps to put into perspective just how out-of-the norm Malibu’s behavior is. [More]
lawsuits
Justice Department Says It’s Not Illegal To Sleep Outside
By 8.13.15
If I want to sleep in my backyard, no one is going to hassle me (except maybe a few birds and the odd possum), but if I want to take a nap in a public park I may be violating some city ordinance and find myself fined or arrested. But lawyers for the U.S. Dept. of Justice say that laws barring people from sleeping in public spaces are unconstitutional. [More]
Consumers Have Filed 75 Antitrust Lawsuits Against Delta, American, United & Southwest Airlines Since July
By 8.13.15
Shortly after the Department of Justice announced in early July that it had opened an investigation into alleged collusion between major airlines to keep ticket prices high two groups of passengers filed lawsuits against the major U.S. carriers. Since then, the legal system has been inundated with strikingly similar complaints from travelers. [More]
Bumble Bee Foods Will Pay $6M For Worker Who Was Killed In Pressure Cooker
By 8.13.15
Almost three years after a Bumble Bee Foods worker was killed when he was accidentally locked inside a pressure cooker he was repairing, his employer will have to pay $6 million for “willfully violating worker safety rules” as part of a settlement agreement announced by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. [More]
Judge Says Cablevision Must Stop Running Ads Calling Verizon A “Liar”
By 8.12.15
It’s not uncommon to see a cable provider commercial that pokes fun at or attempt to disprove a competitor for their claims of being the faster, less expensive, or just plain better option. But there’s one less lineup of such ads you’ll be seeing on your TV, as a judge ruled this week that Cablevision must stop running its ads that essentially call Verizon a “liar” regarding claims that it had the fastest wireless network. [More]
Small Business Owners Say DirecTV Installation Errors Result In Collections Lawsuits
By 8.7.15
If a small business, like a bar or restaurant, lies to a cable company and orders residential service instead of the more costly commercial offerings, it would make sense that the pay-TV provider might sue to collect the money it should have received. But what if the reason for the gaffe wasn’t intentional deception but a mistake by an installer? [More]
Delta Hit With Another $2.7M In Sanctions In Years-Old Baggage-Fee Collusion Case
By 8.6.15
A still-pending class-action lawsuit that dates back to the dawn of the baggage-fee era alleges that Delta and AirTran colluded to implement their original fees for passengers’ first checked bags. But Delta has apparently not been terribly forthcoming with all the documentation sought by plaintiffs and has already been sanctioned millions of dollars by the court, including a $2.7 million slap on the wrist handed down earlier this week. [More]
Judge Denies Class-Action Status For Lawsuit Filed By Former iPhone User Over Lost Texts
By 8.5.15
A former iPhone user who sued Apple last May claiming she lost text messages when she switched to an Android phone won’t be able to get class-action status for her lawsuit. [More]
Noted Porn Copyright Troll Asks Court To Block Use Of Terms Like “Porn” & “Copyright Troll”
By 8.4.15
We’ve told you before about Malibu Media, the porn company that has filed more than 3,500 lawsuits against alleged illegal online sharers of its adult content, thus earning its “copyright troll” badge with ease. But the company doesn’t want that term being used against it in court. [More]
Regulators Sue To Shut Down Illegal Offshore Payday Loan Network
By 8.4.15
While most of us think of payday lenders as small-time storefront operations, there is also a complicated web of interconnected payday businesses operating outside the U.S. borders, but illegally issuing costly short-term loans to American borrowers. A newly filed lawsuit hopes to put an end to one such network. [More]
Appeals Court Breathes New Life Into ATM Fee Price-Fixing Suit
By 8.4.15
More than two years after a federal court dismissed price-fixing lawsuits against Visa, MasterCard, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo, a federal appeals court has revived the cases that involve allegations that these banks and payment networks illegally and anticompetitively established fee levels for out-of-network ATM use. [More]
Court Will Hear Arguments Against Net Neutrality In December
By 8.4.15
Though the telecom and cable industry was unable to prevent new net neutrality rules from kicking in earlier this summer, the legal battle over the FCC’s authority to regulate broadband continues. A federal appeals court has agreed to hear arguments in the matter later this year. [More]
City Sues Resident Who Used City Council Footage In YouTube Videos
By 8.3.15
Section 107 of the Copyright Act permits “fair use” of copyrighted materials “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching…, scholarship, or research.” But the leaders of one California city don’t think this applies to critical videos made using footage from its city council meetings. [More]
Class-Action Suit Accuses CVS Of Overcharging Customers For Generic Drugs
By 7.31.15
The country’s second largest pharmacy chain is the latest party in a class-action lawsuit that accuses CVS of deliberately overcharging hundreds of thousands of patients for generic prescription drugs. [More]
Walmart Customer With Tourette’s Claims She Was Kicked Out Of Store, Told Not To Return
By 7.31.15
A Florida woman with Tourette’s syndrome is suing Walmart, claiming she was banned from the store, in violation of the American with Disabilities Act. She and her husband are seeking more than $2.2 million in damages for emotional distress. [More]
Fiat Chrysler Loses Bid For New Trial In Wrongful Death Case Involving Jeep Fire
By 7.29.15
Fiat Chrysler’s woes related to millions of Jeeps that could catch fire after being rear-ended continued today as a judge rejected the company’s request for a new a trial in the wrongful death case of a four-year-old boy. [More]
GM Loses Fight To Keep Ignition-Defect Documents From Going Public
By 7.29.15
General Motors, which has acknowledged being responsible for more than 100 deaths because of its failure to recall vehicles with a known defect in the ignition switch, doesn’t want the public to see documents turned up as part of an ongoing lawsuit. But a federal court recently ruled against the car maker, which could be embarrassing for GM. [More]
Filmmakers Claim To Have Conclusive Proof Against “Happy Birthday” Copyright Claim
By 7.28.15
“Happy Birthday” (aka “Happy Birthday To You”) may be sung millions of times a day at birthday bashes around the world, but putting it in a movie or recording a version of the brief ditty will set you back some money for royalties to Warner Music Group, which has long claimed to hold the copyright for the song. But a recently filed court document claims that there is conclusive proof that the song belongs in the public domain. [More]
