STATUS: TRO Dissolved.
A satirical website, "Hammond Action News," was forced to temporarily take down a fictional story about a giraffe attack on a tour guide on March 4, 2010. The article named a real nonprofit wildlife sanctuary, the Global Wildlife Center, and used a copyrighted photograph to illustrate the article. The plaintiffs brought suit after the owner of the satirical website refused to take the story down. Without holding a hearing, Louisiana judge Brenda Bedsole Ricks granted a temporary restraining injunction, and scheduled a hearing for Mar. 15. A different judge, Beth Wolfe, heard the evidence and dissolved the injunction. Judge Wolfe also ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendant $500 in attorneys' fees and court costs.
Links and court documents
Judge: Web site must yank story about center giraffe, 2theadvocate.com, Mar. 4, 2010
Judge rules in satirical Web site's favor, USA Today, Mar. 16, 2010
Fake Giraffe Update: Louisiana Court Sides With Satirical Website, Citizen Media Law Project, Mar. 16, 2010
ACLU's Amicus Brief
Showing posts with label Sanctions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sanctions. Show all posts
Universal Music Group v. Lindor, Civil No. 05-1095 (E.D.N.Y. motion filed Sept. 2008).
Status: Sanctions motion denied
In the course of a long-running, acrimonious case alleging that Brooklyn home health aide Marie Lindor had downloaded various copyrighted songs from the Kazaa pirate music website, in September 2008 the plaintiffs moved for dismissal, arguing that much of the evidence in the case had been destroyed. Plaintiffs also sought sanctions against the defendant and her attorney, Ray Beckerman: although the sanctions were primarily for the alleged evidence destruction and alleged evasive statements in court papers by the defendant and Beckerman, the motion also cited comments on Beckerman's "Recording Industry vs. The People" blog.
The motion was referred to a magistrate judge, who recommended denial the motion in an Oct. 9, 2009 ruling.
Case Information and Links:
Magistrate denies RIAA motion for discovery sanctions in UMG v Lindor
Request To Sanction Attorney-Blogger Rejected
Status: Sanctions motion denied
In the course of a long-running, acrimonious case alleging that Brooklyn home health aide Marie Lindor had downloaded various copyrighted songs from the Kazaa pirate music website, in September 2008 the plaintiffs moved for dismissal, arguing that much of the evidence in the case had been destroyed. Plaintiffs also sought sanctions against the defendant and her attorney, Ray Beckerman: although the sanctions were primarily for the alleged evidence destruction and alleged evasive statements in court papers by the defendant and Beckerman, the motion also cited comments on Beckerman's "Recording Industry vs. The People" blog.
The motion was referred to a magistrate judge, who recommended denial the motion in an Oct. 9, 2009 ruling.
Case Information and Links:
Magistrate denies RIAA motion for discovery sanctions in UMG v Lindor
Request To Sanction Attorney-Blogger Rejected
Holmgren v. Murrieta Opinion, No. RIC494950 (
Status: Pending
Plaintiff Roy Holmgren brought suit for defamation based on allegedly false statements published by anonymous operators and commenters of two blogs, the Murrieta Opinion (murrietaopinion.blogspot.com; defunct) and About Murrieta (aboutmurrieta.blogspot.com). The host of the blogs, Google (owner of Blogspot) has refused to provide Holmgren with any identifying information. Regardless, defendant Jeffrey Kleiner was added to the suit after it was discovered that he was the operator of the Murrieta Opinion blog. The court has proposed sanctions against Holmgren for failure to file proof of service of summons on Kleiner, which were still pending in March 2009. Updated March 26, 2009.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/holmgren-v-murrieta-opinion
UMG Recordings v. Lindor, Civil 05-1095 (E.D.N.Y. relevant motion filed Sept. 12, 2008).
Status: Motion pending
In a case brought by a music company against a defendant who allegedly downloaded large amounts of copyrighted music, the plaintiff asked the court to declare the defendant and her attorney Ray Beckerman, who blogs about this and similar cases at recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com, “vexatious litigators” and impose sanctions for filing frivolous motions and posting them on the blog “to bolster his public relations campaign and embarrass Plaintiffs.” On Dec. 30, the district court judge referred that motion to a magistrate judge.
Links and Court Documents:
Motion: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/files/vexatious.pdf
Sykes et al v. Bayer Corporation, No. 2008-MC-00013 (D.N.H. subpoena issued March 28, 2008) (although underlying case is being tried in
Status: Subpoena quashed
In a lawsuit alleging that mercury in various vaccines led to the plaintiffs’ son’s autism, the plaintiffs subpoenaed Kathleen Seidel after her blog, the neurodiversity weblog (www.neurodiversity.com/weblog/) covered the case. The sweeping subpoena sought “all documents pertaining to the setup, financing, running, research, maintaining” the blog, and he names of all persons "helping, paying or facilitating in any fashion" the blog. Seidel filed a motion to quash, which was granted April 21, 2008. The court also ordered plaintiffs’ attorney to show why he should not be sanctioned for the subpoena.
Links and Court Documents:
http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/sykes-v-seidel
Order quashing subpoena: http://www.citmedialaw.org/sites/citmedialaw.org/files/2008-04-22-Order%20Quashing%20Subpoena.pdf
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