Congress is considering the Defend Trade Secrets Act, which would create a new federal trade secret civil cause of action. The Act includes a quirky and unprecedented ex parte procedure for trade secret owners to obtain a seizure order. The seizure provision applies in, at best, a narrow set of...

This is Chapter 14 from the 2020 edition of Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials, a casebook by Rebecca Tushnet and Eric Goldman. This chapter examines the legal issues arising from featuring people in advertisements, including publicity rights and endorsement/testimonial guidelines

In 1996, Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996, a major statutory reform of the telecommunications industry. The act included the Communications Decency Act (CDA), Congress' first (and unconstitutional) regulation of the Internet. The CDA principally criminalized online...

Consumer reviews are vitally important to our modern economy. Markets become stronger and more efficient when consumers share their marketplace experiences and guide other consumers toward the best vendors and away from poor ones. Businesses recognize the importance of consumer reviews, and many...

An online provider’s termination of a user’s online account can be a major-and potentially even life-changing-event for the user. Account termination exiles the user from a virtual place the user wanted to be; termination disrupts any social network relationship ties in that venue, and...

This is Prof. Eric Goldman's amicus brief supporting NetChoice's request for certiorari in NetChoice v. Florida Attorney General, a constitutional challenge to Florida's social media censorship law. Florida's law requires social media services to disclose details about their editorial operations...

Lawyers have enthusiastically embraced search engine advertisements triggered by consumers’ keywords, but the legal community remains sharply divided about the propriety of buying keyword ads triggered by the names of rival lawyers or law firms (“competitive keyword advertising”). This...

This Article examines the complex world of Internet search. The Article seeks to ensure that trademark law does not interfere with the free flow of Internet content that consumers find relevant. The Article starts with three complementary looks at Internet search from the perspectives of...

This is Chapter 14 from the 2022 edition of Advertising & Marketing Law: Cases and Materials, a casebook by Rebecca Tushnet and Eric Goldman. This chapter examines the legal issues arising from featuring people in advertisements, including publicity rights and endorsement/testimonial guidelines