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After domain name registrar refused to disclose the identity of the registrant of InstitutionalHartfordLife.com, Hartford Life sued Moniker in the Southern District last week. Via Justia.com docket search. Hartford Fire Insurance, et. al. v. Moniker Online Services, LLC and John Does 1-10, 0 Civ 9729 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 2 2007).

WSJ.com: “Facebook Faces Legal Questions Over ‘Facebook Ads‘”:
“On their respective blogs . . . GWU Law professor Dan Solove and Minnesota Law professor William McGeveran have issues with the new program. McGeveran points out that this may be illegal under a 100-year-old New York privacy law. The statute says that “any person whose name, portrait, picture, or voice is used within this state for advertising purposes or for the purposes of trade without the written consent first obtained” can sue for damages. What’s more, such a use is a criminal misdemeanor.”

Defendant publishes Harry Potter reference work, based in part on a fan encyclopedia. Harry Potter publisher and author sue.
Text of complaint in Warner Bros Ent and JK Rowling v RDR Books, SDNY Oct 31 2007.
Text of decision referred to in complaint: Castle Rock Entertainment v Carol Publishing, 150 F.3d 132 (2d Cir 1998) (Seinfeld trivia book).
Prof Patry raises fair use questions re suit.

Lulu assists in self-publishing content, including user-generated content (UGC) in video form. Hulu is the much-discussed joint venture between NBC and Fox that will distribute video content online. The venture had filed a trademark application covering a broad array of services, that could include the distribution of video UGC. Additionally, Hulu has sometimes been described as a potential competitor of YouTube, and that may give rise to the perception that Hulu would distribute UGC.
Lulu filed a trademark suit, alleging that LULU and HULU were confusingly similar, and brought a preliminary injunction motion, arguing that, with its massive resources, were Hulu to enter the UGC field, it would cause irreparable harm to Lulu’s fledgling business.
However, under a sealed record, Hulu provided evidence that it will, at least for now, stick to distibuting Network-fare, and not UGC. The identification of other services in its trademark application would not support a finding of that HuLu was about to become a direct competitor of plaintiff. As HuLu was not a direct competitor, there was no finding of imminet irrelarable harm to justify urgent relief. The judge noted that were Hulu to move into UGC, then the court would reevaluate at that time.
Lulu v. N-F Newsite, LLC, 5:07-CV-347-D (EDNC Oct 19 2007) (copy upon request).

The Toronto Star: Music Takedown Strikes The Wrong Chord

Copyright expires in Canada 50 years after the author’s death. European copyright expires 70 years after the author’s death. Accordingly, some works might be public domain in Canada that might still be protected in Europe.
The International Music Score Library Project is a not-for-profit Canadian site hosting works that are public domain in Canada.
IMSLP received this demand letter from the Austrian publisher of composers such as Bartok and Mahler (Bartok died 62 years ago, Mahler died 96 years ago (??)). The letter threatens legal action against the coordinator of IMSLP personally, in Europe, and notes that Canada could enforce such a judgement.
So IMSLP has shuttered its site for now.