The Texas real estate company First Call Properties, which sued Craigslist for trademark infringement based on ads posted by users, has withdrawn the suit against the online listings website. First Call will continue its suit against AAA Apartment Locating, the company it says posted Craigslist ads using the phrases "first call," "call first," and "call us first" in a deliberate attempt to confuse consumers.

Continue ReadingReal Estate Co. Drops Trademark Infringement Suit Against Craigslist

First Call Properties, a Texas real estate company, has sued Craigslist for trademark infringement based on ads posted by users in what Online Media Daily says "appears to be a first." The company alleges that shortly after it began placing ads on Craigslist, rival AAA Apartment Locating began posting Craigslist ads using the phrases "first call," "call first," and "call us first" in a deliberate attempt to confuse consumers. First Call claims that Craigslist knew that AAA was using the First Call trademark and failed to stop the ads from appearing.

Continue ReadingCraigslist Sued For Trademark Infringement Based On Listing

Former Stanford Group Company vice president Tiffany Angelle has sued The Independent Weekly of Lafayette, La., as well as the paper's editorial director Leslie Turk, for their coverage of the company's alleged $8 billion investment scam and its effect on the local community. Angelle is suing the paper for defamation for an April story that reported she had given a reluctant investor a Rolex watch and a lavish trip to keep his business, but the Independent is fighting the suit, saying it was filed "to obstruct the paper's coverage" of the scandal. The Independent, citing Louisiana's anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law, filed a motion to strike the suit earlier this month.

Continue ReadingEx-Financial Firm VP Sues Independent Weekly for Defamation

"The Las Vegas U.S. attorney's office appears to have relented in its demand for the identities of all of the people who wrote comments on the Review-Journal website about a criminal tax trial in progress," the Las Vegas daily reports. The revised subpoena asks for the same information about only two comments, and the paper says it will comply. "I'd hate to be the guy who refused to tell the feds Timothy McVeigh was buying fertilizer," editor Thomas Mitchell says. Meanwhile, the ACLU of Nevada has filed its own motion to quash the subpoena and stop the release of any identities.

Continue ReadingSubpoena for Web Commenters’ Info in Las Vegas is Narrowed

A 12-member jury ruled earlier this month that the Columbia City Paper libeled a local attorney in a 2007 article, and awarded her $40,000 in damages. The suit named as defendants City Paper's two co-owners, publisher Paul Blake and editor-in-chief Todd Morehead, as well as the publication itself. Blake tells Columbia Free Times they will "definitely" appeal the jury decision. "We're pretty confident the First Amendment will prevail," he says.

Continue ReadingSouth Carolina Biweekly Loses Libel Case

The grand jury is asking for the names, phone numbers, IP addresses and other identifying information about every person who commented on a May 26 Las Vegas Review-Journal story on the tax evasion trial of a local resident. The paper's editor, calling the subpoena "tantamount to killing a gnat with an A-bomb," says Review-Journal lawyers are negotiating with the feds to limit the scope of information sought. MORE: Online Media Daily talks to legal experts about the subpoenas.

Continue ReadingFederal Grand Jury Subpoenas Commenters’ Info from Newspaper

Pittsburgh City Paper will be able to see the court order sealing details of the divorce between local publisher Richard Mellon Scaife and his wife, but it won't get access to the official schedule of proceedings. The alt-weekly hoped to see the docket "in order to keep abreast of future developments" in the case. MORE: City Paper editor Chris Potter weighs in on a "surreal few days."

Continue ReadingJudge Unseals Some but Not All Records Requested by Alt-Weekly

A controversial executive training program known as NXIVM filed a lawsuit alleging defamation against the paper earlier this week, but the Albany alt-weekly has not yet been served with the suit. Turns out it was filed one day before the statute of limitations would have expired. NXIVM president Nancy Salzman tells Metroland that, indeed, they filed the suit "because of statutory considerations." The paper has not sought legal counsel in response to the lawsuit. "As far as we're concerned right now, it's almost as if there's not a lawsuit because it has not been served to us," editor and publisher Stephen Leon says. "They may never serve the lawsuit for all we know."

Continue ReadingSuit Filed Against Metroland Remains Unserved