Levinson Axelrod, P.A. v. Edward Heyburn, P.C., No. 3:09-cv-05627-FLW-LHG (D. N.J. filed Nov. 5, 2009).
Status: Pending.

A New Jersey law firm sued a former associate in New Jersey state court over his blog lambasting the firm.  He removed the case to federal court, where the case is pending.  On Nov. 9, the federal judge recused herself, because her husband has served as an arbitrator for the firm.

Links and Court Documents: 
Fired Associate Launches Mimic Site to Trash-Talk Firm (New Jersey Law Journal, Nov. 2, 2009)

Firm Sues Fired Associate Who Launched Firm Gripe Site (New Jersey Law Journal, Nov. 10, 2009)

Law Firm & Ex-Associate Litigate Badmouth Blog Battle in State & Federal Court (ABA Journal, Nov. 10, 2009
Federal Judge Recuses from Suit Over Faux Firm Gripe Site (New Jersey Law Journal, Nov. 16, 2009)

Levinson Axelrod, P.A. v. Edward Heyburn, P.C., No. MID-L-000220-09 (N.J. Super. filed Nov. 5, 2009).
Status: Removed to federal court.

A New Jersey law firm sued a former associate in New Jersey state court over his blog lambasting the firm.  He removed the case to federal court, where the case is pending.


Links and Court Documents: 
Fired Associate Launches Mimic Site to Trash-Talk Firm (New Jersey Law Journal, Nov. 2, 2009)

Firm Sues Fired Associate Who Launched Firm Gripe Site (New Jersey Law Journal, Nov. 10, 2009)

Law Firm & Ex-Associate Litigate Badmouth Blog Battle in State & Federal Court (ABA Journal, Nov. 10, 2009

Doninger v. Niehoff, No. HHB-CV-07-4014735-S (Conn. Super. Ct., filed July 16, 2007).

Doninger v. Niehoff, Civil No. 07-01129 (D. Conn. removed from state court July 26, 2007).

Status: Denial of preliminary injunction upheld; defense motion for summary judgment granted in part; appeal pending.

A high school student and her mother sued the principal of her daughter’s school and the superintendent of her school district after they barred the student from running for re-election as student secretary after she posted complaints to her blog about a student-planned concert that was canceled by school administrators.

The state case was moved to federal court in late July 2007. On Aug. 31, 2007, the federal trial court denied a preliminary injunction to force school administrators to allow the girl to run for office; the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed this ruling on May 30, 2008. Doninger v. Dept. of Homeland Security, No. 07-CV-3885 (2d Cir. 2008).

The case then returned to the trial court, which partially granted a defense motion for summary judgment on Jan. 15, 2009, leaving only a claim alleging that the student’s speech was chilled when she was prohibited from wearing a t-shirt with a message on it at school. The student has appealed the partial grant of summary judgment.

Links and Court Documents:

Case information: http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/doninger-v-niehoff

http://www.rep-am.com/News/438521.txt

http://www.ctcentral.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18616270&BRD=1643&PAG=461&dept_id=10486&rfi=6

http://www.nbc30.com/news/13385544/detail.html

http://region19.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html

http://jonathanturley.org/2008/05/30/second-circuit-upholds-punishment-of-high-school-student-for-out-of-school-web-entry/

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2008/11/13/news/a3-db.txt

State complaint: http://mirandamagazine.com/joomla/images//donninger%20lawsuit.pdf

State docket: http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DispDetail.asp?DocNum=HHB-CV-07-4014735-S

Federal district court decision denying injunction: http://www.splc.org/pdf/doningerdenial.pdf

Appellate decision affirming denial of injunction: http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov:8080/isysnative/RDpcT3BpbnNcT1BOXDA3LTM4ODUgLWN2X29wbi5wZGY=/07-3885%20-cv_opn.pdf

Bauer v. Glatzer, No MON-L-07-1169 (N.J. Super. filed 2007). Bauer v. Glatzer, Civil No. 07-04501 (D.N.J. removed from state court Sept. 20, 2007; remanded). Status: Pending.

A literary agent sued 15 individual bloggers, as well as the Wikipedia Foundation and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization, over various postings challenging her ability and ethics.

On July 21, the state court dismissed the claims against Wikipedia, under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Claims against at least five of the blogger defendants were later dismissed from the case.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/06/free_speech_on_internet_at_iss.html
Second amended complaint: http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/wikimedia/BauerSecondAmendedComplaint.pdf
Dismissal of Wikipedia: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-07-21-Bauer%20Order%20Dismissing%20Second%20Amended%20Complaint.pdf

Dennis v. Watson, Civil No. 07CV05202 JFL002 (Ga. Super., Floyd County default verdict Feb. 4, 2008).

Status: Trial on damages pending; interlocutory appeal pending before Georgia Court of Appeals.

In December 2007, Stephanie Dennis sued Teresa Watson, operator of the RomeNewsbyWatson.com web site, for comments posted on the site which alleged that Dennis was having an affair. [Although such suits are ordinarily barred by section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. it, is unclear whether the argument was made in this case.]

After a short detour to federal court, which remanded the case to state court, Watson moved that the judge hearing the case recuse himself, but the judge refused; Watson then appealed the refusal to the Georgia Supreme Court. While the appeal was pending, the judge held two hearings in the case and on Feb. 4, 2009 held Watson in default when she did not appear, and planned to hold a trial on damages. The following day, Feb. 5, the Georgia Supreme Court transferred the case to the Georgia Court of Appeals, which on Feb. 11 declined to order the lower court to halt its proceedings.

Links and Court Documents:
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news948417.html
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news947488.html
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?pnpid=680&show=archivedetails&ArchiveID=1325823&om=1
http://news.mywebpal.com/partners/680/public/news947926.html
http://thesummervillenews.com/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=244
Supreme Court docket: http://www.gasupreme.us/docket_search/results_one_record.php?docr_case_num=S09M0738
Supreme Court remand: http://www1.romenews-tribune.com/Files/Documents/020709teresawatson.pdf

Johnson v. Tucker Max, No 2003 CA 004867 (Fla. Cir. Ct. removed to federal court June 6, 2003); Civil No. 03-80515 (S.D. Fla. dismissed July 2003).

Status: Dismissed by plaintiff

Plaintiff, formerly Miss Vermont and Miss Vermont U.S.A., sued over postings on the tuckermax.com blog in which the author recounted his alleged sexual exploits with her. Initially, a Florida state court judge issued a temporary injunction against continued availability of the postings. After the injunction was lifted, the case was removed to federal court. The plaintiff then voluntarily dismissed the case.

Links and Court Documents:

http://www.citmedialaw.org/johnson-v-tucker-max

http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/entries/the_almost_banned_miss_vermont_story.phtml

http://www.tuckermax.com/archives/images/tuckernytimesweb.pdf

http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2003/05/16/college_graduate_tuc.php

Initial complaint: http://www.tuckermax.com/images/Complaint%20for%20Injunctive%20Relief%20and%20Damages.PDF

Bell v. Shah, Civil No. 06-21063 (S.D. Fla. settled June 26, 2007).

Status: Settled for apology and $10,000

Plaintiff Joel Bell, who serves as a manager for several professional sports players, sued a writer for the website draftcity.com (which closed when the legal action was threatened) for items on the site disparaging Bell. Ruling on a motion to dismiss, the federal court in Connecticut held that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant, a Florida resident, even though the website was set up and registered by a one-time Connecticut resident. The federal court in Connecticut (see above) moved the case to the federal court in southern Florida. The parties eventually settled.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/bell-v-shah
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=379483&view=next&sid=e9b32f008e98909a27989cb35a3f1f98
Docket available at https://ecf.flsd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/iqquerymenu.pl?124513 (PACER log-in required)

Bell v. Shah, Civil No. 05-0671 (D. Conn. filed April 27, 2005).

Status: Transferred to S.D. Fla. (March 31, 2006), then settled.

Plaintiff Joel Bell, who serves as a manager for several professional sports players, sued a writer for the the website draftcity.com (which closed when the legal action was threatened) for items on the site disparaging Bell. Ruling on a motion to dismiss, the federal court in Connecticut held that it lacked personal jurisdiction over the defendant, a Florida resident, even though the website was set up and registered by a one-time Connecticut resident. After the federal court in Connecticut moved the case to the federal court in southern Florida, the parties settled.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.digestiblelaw.com/jurisdiction/blogQ.aspx?entry=3735
http://www.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=379483&view=next&sid=e9b32f008e98909a27989cb35a3f1f98

Cruse v. 451 Press LLC, No. CV 08-1462 (Ark. Cir. Ct., Baxter County filed May 15, 2008), removed to federal court, Civil No. 08- 03031 (W.D. Ark. June 18, 2008), remanded back to state court (W.D. Ark. Sept. 3, 2008).
Status: Dismissed

A former special education teacher who was acquitted of misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a minor sued over comments on the Teacher Smackdown web site (www.teachersmackdown.com), which she alleges falsely reported that she had pleaded guilty to the charge. On March 19, Circuit Court judge Gary Isbel dismissed the suit on the grounds that Arkansas courts did not have personal jurisdiction over the out-of-state defendants. The plaintiff said she would appeal this ruling.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/cruse-v-teacher-smackdown
Complaint: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-05-15-Cruse%20Complaint.pdf
http://baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080531/NEWS01/805310307
http://baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080908/NEWS01/809080306
http://baxterbulletin.com/article/20090429/NEWS01/904290357/1002/rss

Gilding v. Carr, No. 2007-016329 (Ariz. Super. Ct., Maricopa County removed Nov. 19, 2008).

Gilding v. Carr, No. 2:08-cv-02137 (D. Ariz. removed from state court Nov. 19, 2008).

Status: removed to Federal court; motion to dismiss pending

John Gilding, supervisor of an FAA employee who committed suicide, filed a lawsuit for defamation and false light based on two blog posts by the former president of National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) on his blog, http://themainbang.typepad.com/ Gilding argues that the postings were false and misleading. The case was moved to federal court in November 2008, where a motion to dismiss has been filed.

Links and Court Documents:

http://azlaw.com/blog/index.php

http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/gilding-v-carr

Arthur v. Turner, No. 08-MC-00006 (E.D. Tex. filed April 18, 2008).
Status: Pending.

Pursuing her federal lawsuit against Howard K. Stern, Virgie Arthur sought information from Nelda Turner of the “Rose Speaks” blog (www.rosespeaks.com) and her husband. The Turners responded with a motion to move the entire case to the Eastern District of Texas.

Links and Court Documents:
http://annanicoleandhowardkstern.com/2008/05/turners-ask-for-change-of-venue-in-virgie-arthur-lawsuit/

Melvin v. Doe, No. G.D. 99-10264 (Pa. C.P., Alleghany County 2000).
Status: Dismissed by plaintiff

Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin sued the anonymous author of the web site grantstreet99, which focused on local politics in Alleghany County, Pa., over allegations that she had improperly lobbyied former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge on behalf of an attorney seeking appointment to the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas bench.

Melvin originally sued in Virginia, home of "Grant Street ‘99’s" web host AOL, seeking an ex parte order requiring AOL to reveal the webmaster’s identity of "John Doe." When the Virginia action was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, Judge Melvin then filed suit in Pennsylvania.

The trial court ordered Doe’s identity revealed and three fellow judges of Melvin’s on the Superior Court declined to consider the merits of the appeal. In November 2003, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent the case back to the Superior Court and ordered a consideration of the merits. Melvin then dropped the case.

In 2006, at a trial in a separate federal suit, John J. Chapman testified that he was behind the Grant Street99 website. The jury in the federal suit, in which Chapman alleged that he was improperly fired from his job with Alleghany County because of the site, found in favor of the county. (Chapman v. Cannon, Civil No. 01-1341 (W.D. Pa. jury verdict May 26, 2006)).

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/melvin-v-doe
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04094/295582.stm
http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=3434
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1069170417384
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_455043.html

Wargo v. Lavandeira, Civil No. 08-664752 (Ohio C.P. filed July 14, 2008), removed to federal court, No. 08-2035 (N.D. Ohio removed Aug. 22, 2008).
Status: Dismissed, Civil No. 08-664752, 2008 WL 4533673 (N.D. Ohio)

Diane Wargo sent an e-mail from her workplace to the Perezhilton.com blog in response to an item about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt spending Christmas with their children. Mario Lavandeira, who runs the blog, posted Wargo’s e-mail as the "Email of the Day," along her full name, e-mail address, and employer. Wargo claims that she then received hundreds of threatening e-mails, and several threatening phone calls, and that she was fired from her job. She then sued for claims including breach of contract, promissory estoppel, fraud, negligence, defamation, invasion of privacy, tortious interference, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, alleging that the posting of her true full name (rather than her screen name alias), e-mail address and employer violated the blog’s “conditions of use,” which promise that only screen names will be posted unless the blog obtains permission. The case was removed from state to federal court in August 2008, then dismissed in early October. In dismissing the case, the court held that the Perezhilton.com site was not directed at the state of Ohio, so courts there did not have jurisdiction in the case.

Links and Court Documents:
http://reporter.blogs.com/thresq/2008/07/hollywood-doc-1.html
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07/local_woman_sues_gossip_column.html
Case information: http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/wargo-v-lavandeira
Complaint: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0715081perez1.html

Manhattan 10221 LLC v. Maloney, No. 113074/2007 (N.Y.C. Civil. Ct., N.Y. County filed Sept. 28, 2007).
Status: Dropped by plaintiff

A Manhattan dry cleaner sued a disgruntled customer who aired his complaints on flyers posted on the Upper East Side and on a web site, toddlaynecleanerssucks.com. The dry cleaner’s motion for an injunction against the flyers and website was denied. On Oct. 12, the court dismissed the libel claim, leaving a claim for tortious interference with plaintiff’s business and potential business. On Nov. 8, 2007, the case was moved from New York City Civil Court (claims under $25,000) to New York Supreme Court; in March 2009, the plaintiff dropped the case.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10072007/news/regionalnews/soiled_reputation.htm
http://brain-terminal.com/posts/2007/10/07/my-latest-free-speech-battle
Opinion granting motion to change caption: http://decisions.courts.state.ny.us/fcas/FCAS_docs/2008APR/3001130742007003SCIV.pdf

NXIVM Corporation and First Principles, Inc. v. The Ross Institute, Civil No. 06-01051 (D. N.J. transferred March 7, 2006) (transfer from N.D.N.Y.),

Status: Pending

The organization NXIVM sued a "cult de-programmer" and two writers who authored and posted on the Internet a report on plaintiff’s program using quotes from their copyrighted seminar manual. A federal court in New York denied a preliminary injunction barring the defendants from using the materials, which was affirmed (see below). In February 2006, the case was transferred to federal court in New Jersey, where the case is pending. On June 27, the judge granted defendants’ motions to dismiss some of the claims, leaving the trade secret and contractual claims against all defendants, and the copyright claims against the Ross Institute.
In late February 2007, a magistrate judge in another case held that Ross could obtain a report that a lawyer hired by NXIVM prepared as part of an effort to discredit Ross, holding that it was not protected by attorney-client privilege because it had been given to third parties (see NXIVM Corp. v. O'Hara, Civil No. 05-1546 (N.D.N.Y. order Feb. 23, 2007)).

Links and Court Documents:
mentioned in http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1136838328818
article on discovery ruling: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173101906318

Software Development and Investment of Nevada, d/b/a Traffic-Power.com v. Wall, Civil No. 05-1109 (D. Nev. dismissed Feb. 13, 2006).

Status: Dismissed

An Internet marketing company sued the owner of a blog on search engine optimization (www.seobook.com) for libel and publication of trade secrets. The suit, which also names several posters to the blog as defendants, was removed from state to federal court, then dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.

Links and Court Documents:

Grant of motion to dismiss: http://www.seobook.com/decision-on-motions.pdf

Complaint and commentary from plaintiff: http://www.seobook.com/archives/001130.shtml

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB112541909221726743-Kl4kLxv0wSbjqrkXg_DieY3c8lg_20050930,00.html

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13715&hed=Bloggers+Face+the+Law

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05277/582101.stm

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/46326.html

Gregerson v. Vilana Financial, Inc., Civil No. 06-1164 (D. Minn. blog claim withdrawn Aug. 15, 2007).
Status: Defendant’s defamation counterclaim withdrawn; $19,462 award on underlying copyright claim

In March 2006, Chris Gregerson filed a copyright suit against Andrew Vilenchik, alleging that Vilenchik had used photos from his website in advertisements for his company, Vilana Financial, without permission. Gregerson wrote about the lawsuit on his website www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us, leading Vilenchik to file a separate suit in Minnesota state court for libel. The libel claim was moved to federal court in August 2006, and in November 2006 the court denied Vilenchik’s motion to enjoin Gregerson from referring to his company and web site. At an August hearing in the underlying copyright case, Vilenchik withdrew his defamation case. Later in August 2007, the court dismissed the claims against Vilenchik, but granted summary judgment for Gregerson against Vilana Financial. After a bench trial on damages on the copyright claim, the court awarded the Gregerson $19,462.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/gregerson-v-vilana-financial-inc
http://www.cgstock.com/essays/vilana
http://www.phototour.minneapolis.mn.us/essays/vilana.html#defamation_lawsuit
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/25/0159250&from=rss
Verdict: http://www.cgstock.com/essays/gregerson_v_vilana_judgment_152.pdf

Webster v. Albero, No. 0203-0003308-2007 (Md. Dist. Ct., Wicomico County transferred out Aug. 9, 2007) (transferred to Worcester County and renumbered); Webster v. Albero, No. 0204-0001876-2007 (Md. Dist. Ct., Worcester County (settled July 28, 2008).
Status: Settled (no monetary payment).

Salisbury, Md. police chief Allan Webster filed suit against Joe Albero over statements in his Salisbury News blog (sbynews.com). In August, the case was transferred to Worcester County court; in September, Albero invoked Maryland’s reporter’s shield law in order to protect the sources for his information. On April 10, 2008 the court denied Albero’s claim that he was protected by Maryland’s reporters privilege law, and scheduled trial for July 30, 2008. Two days before trial, the parties settled; according to Albero’s blog, there was no monetary payment.

Links and Court Documents:
http://www.sbynews.com/index.php/site/comments/the_chief_of_the_salisbury_police_department_is_suing_me_rotflmao/
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070703/NEWS01/707030336/1002
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/NEWS01/708190323
http://wjz.com/local/local_story_184065540.html
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070710/NEWS01/707100332/1002
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070903/NEWS01/709030301/1002
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071030/NEWS01/710300324
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008804100418
http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2008/07/breaking-news-webster-v-albero.html
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080731/NEWS01/807310391/1002
http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=6132&type=UTTM

Global Direct Sales v. Krowne, Civil No. 08-02468 (D. Md. filed Sept. 19, 2008).

Status: Pending.

The federal department of Housing and Urban Development has had a long-standing rule barring home sales where the buyer’s down-payment is funded by the seller. In 2007, HUD adopted new rules (72 Fed. Reg. 56002, 56007 (2007), later stayed by the District Court for the District of Columbia) prohibiting efforts to avoid this rule by sellers giving money to a non-profit organization, which in turn gave a sum a bit less than the amount as a gift to the buyers. Global Direct Sales then partnered with the Penobscot Indian Tribe in Maine to make similar transactions with the tribe serving as intermediary. The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter (ml-implode.com) blog posted an article criticizing this arrangement; Global Direct Sales and the tribe sued over this article. In November 2008, the court denied plaintiff’s requested injunction against the blog. A defense motion to transfer the case to federal court in California is pending.

Links and Court Documents:

Case information and documents: http://ml-implode.com/viewnews/2008-10-09_FHASellerFundedDownpaymentOutfitSuesMLImplodeInEffortToSilenceCr.html

Case information and documents: http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/global-direct-sales-llc-v-krowne