Prof Goldman: Newspaper Obituaries Aren’t Hot News:

The Scranton Times is suing the Wilkes-Barre newspaper for republishing obituary notices in its Scranton edition that were initially published in the Scranton Times. But the Scranton Times has a problem–funeral homes typically write and submit the obituary notices, so the Scranton Times has no copyright interest in the notices
. . .
The most interesting discussion relates to the hot news misappropriation doctrine . . . Here, the court says that the obituary notices fail to qualify as hot news, and therefore the misappropriation claim is preempted by copyright law.

Washington Post: Most Spam Sites Tied to Just 10 Registrars
1. XinNet Cyber Information Company Limited
2. eNom
3. Network Solutions
4. Register.com
5. Planet Online
6. Regtime Ltd.
7. OnlineNIC Inc.
8. Spot Domain LLC
9. Wild West Domains
10. Hichina Web Solutions
I suppose that one way to give these numbers meaning would be to compare the number of ‘spam sites’ to the number of all domain names registered by that registrar.

Prof Goldman: Fifth Circuit Denies Yahoo’s Jurisdictional Appeal in American Airlines Case:

Yahoo’s principal argument was that the parties’ lawsuit was governed by its Sponsored Search Agreement, which had a mandatory venue clause requiring litigation in Yahoo’s home court. The district court judge did not respond well to that argument, calling it “completely nonsensical.” The appeals court wasn’t as harsh but still concludes that Yahoo didn’t make the extraordinary showing required to obtain the relief Yahoo sought–even though American Airlines is seeking disgorgement of its payments under the Sponsored Search Agreement as one of the requested remedies.