NPR reports: An Australian record label may have picked a fight with the wrong guy. The label sent a standard takedown notice threatening to sue after YouTube computers spotted its music in a video. It turns out that video was posted by one of the most famous copyright attorneys in…
Whenever consumers use credit cards, merchants pay swipe fees, which are typically passed along to all consumers in the form of higher prices. American consumers pay the highest swipe fees in the world—eight times those paid by Europeans. These fees, which amount to about $50 billion annually, are highly regressive:…
With various sites on the internet giving ratings to businesses in all sorts of professions, the line between what is protected by the Constitution’s First Amendment and what is not can often get blurry, particularly when the reviews are unfavorable. The trial courts have seen defamation lawsuits pertaining to this…
A business owner who had served as president of a trade association filed a lawsuit alleging slander per se and libel per se for statements made to members of that association and others. She named a former client and her successor as association president, among others, as defendants. After the…
Our business attorneys and consumer lawyers have successfully protected businesses from false reviews online and represented consumers wrongly sued to stop them from posting negative reviews about businesses that commit fraud or mistreat their customers. Our Chicago libel attorneys concentrate in this area of the law. We have defended or…
Many of us have heard stories of people losing their jobs over things said or posted on Facebook. The way we communicate has changed dramatically with the invention and increased use of the internet and employers, employees, and the law are still struggling to catch up. This blog has already…
An Illinois appellate court reversed a circuit court order dismissing a doctor’s lawsuit for slander per quod against two colleagues. Tunca v. Painter, et al, 965 N.E.2d 1237 (Ill. App. 2012). Two doctors who worked at the same hospital as the plaintiff alleged that the plaintiff was negligent during a…
An Illinois federal district court dismissed claims of defamation per se and defamation per quod brought as part of a lawsuit alleging employment discrimination, holding that the statements in question amounted to non-actionable opinion. Artunduaga v. University of Chicago Medical Center, at al, No. 12 C 8733, mem. op. (N.D.…
A television reenactment of a bombing, in which a man suffered severe injury and his friend lost his life, did not give rise to claims for false light invasion of privacy or defamation, according to an Illinois federal court. Butler v. Discovery Communications, LLC, No. 12 cv 6719, mem. op.…
An appellate court in Illinois reversed a lower court ruling dismissing a defamation lawsuit brought by an associate professor at Northwestern University. Mauvais-Jarvis v. Wong, et al, Nos. 1-12-0070, 1-12-0237 cons., slip op. (Ill. App. 1st Dist., Mar. 28, 2013). The plaintiff claimed that the defendants committed libel against him…