Listing on “Dirtiest Hotels in America” Defamatory? The Internet is full of sites that allow users to review, compare, and evaluate all sorts of products and services. One such that that I’m particularly fond of is TripAdvisor, which bills itself as offering “[u]nbiased hotel reviews, photos and travel advice for hotels and vacations.” But what happens if the reviews don’t go your way – can a hotel’s designation as the “Dirtiest Hotel in America” be the basis of a defamation lawsuit?
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Dr. Martens v. Chinese Laundry
September 24, 2013
Dr. Martens v. Chinese Laundry Those of us who grew up in the 1990s will always remember Dr. Martens boots. I’m sure I’ll soon hear that they’re back in style, or that they went in and out of style as I was writing this post, or that they never went out of style. I never had Doc Martens; I’m more of a Clarks Desert Boots kind of guy. But apparently plenty of others have had them; AirWair International Ltd. (the manufacturer of Dr. Martens) claims to have sold millions of pairs in the US since 1984. Befitting their fearsome, punk…
Court Rules Facebook “Likes” are Speech Protected by the First Amendment
September 18, 2013
Court Rules Facebook “Likes” are Speech Protected by the First Amendment For a while now, I’ve had an interest in “Social Media Law.” I’m using quotes because, when people ask me, “What is Social Media Law?,” I have to answer that there’s no such thing, exactly. The issues relate to how existing laws apply in the social media context. A recent case demonstrates the intersection between so-called Social Media Law and Constitutional Law (which is a real thing).
“P” Logo Trademark – Pinterest and Path Clash
September 10, 2013
“P” Logo Trademark – Pinterest and Path Clash Pinterest, the popular photo-sharing app, has run into copyright issues before during its brief life (a few of my posts on the topic can be found here and here.) Now it seems that they’ve found themselves in the middle of a trademark fight. This one concerns the first letter in their name, which they share with Path, a photo-sharing social media competitor.
