Recent Threats Added to the DMLP Database

NOTE: The information and commentary contained in this database entry are based on court filings and other informational sources that may contain unproven allegations made by the parties. The truthfulness and accuracy of such information is likely to be in dispute. Information contained in this entry is current as of the last event mentioned in the "Description" section below; additional proceedings might have taken place in this matter since this event.

Nomvuyo Mzamane v. Huffington Post

Date: 10/03/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Retraction Issued, Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Blog
On October 3, 2008, Nomvuyo Mzamane, the former headmistress of Oprah Winfrey's South African Leadership Academy for Girls, filed a defamation lawsuit in Pennsylvania state court against online news site and group blog The Huffington Post, its owner Ariana Huffington, and...
- 02/26/2009 - 4:15pm - 0 comments

Nicolazzo v. Yoingco

Date: 02/26/2007
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Verdict (defendant)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Ohio
Publication: Website
After a dispute arose about Flora Nicolazzo's failure to make payments to Dennis Yoingco for the sale of a bulldog, Yoingco allegedly posted "websites and other internet messages and postings defaming [Flora and Robert Nicolazzo], including a copy of her driver's license...
- 02/24/2009 - 7:39pm - 0 comments

Ballard v. Wagner

Date: 01/01/2000
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Maine
Publication: Website
Navy officer Alan J. Ballard sued Christopher Wagner and the National Association of Government Employees, Local R01-077, after Wagner, then-president of Local R01-077, published a website subtitled "When telling the truth hurts[:] Dedicated to Exposing Lies at Naval Air Station, Brunswick."  According...
- 02/23/2009 - 6:54pm - 0 comments

Doty v. Molnar (Subpoena to The Billings Gazette)

Date: 01/01/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Subpoena Quashed
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Montana
Publication: Website
Russell Doty, a former candidate for local political office in Montana, subpoenaed The Billings Gazette, seeking identifying information for three anonymous individuals who posted comments to an article on the newspaper's website in 2008 using the pseudonyms "CutiePie," "Always, wondering,"...
- 02/23/2009 - 3:15pm - 0 comments

Atlanta Humane Society v. Mills

Date: 12/21/2001
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Publication: Forum
The Atlanta Humane Society (AHS) and its director, Bill Garrett, sued Kathi Mills for allegedly defamatory statements made on an Internet bulletin board.  In 2001, an Atlanta television station aired a "Whistleblower 2" series investigating AHS, which criticized AHS's management of county...
- 02/19/2009 - 12:19pm - 0 comments

Gorman v. Jacobs

Date: 05/05/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
Publication: Forum
Jack Gorman, a doctor of podiatric medicine, sued fellow podiatrists Allen Jacobs, John Levin, and Richard Benjamin for defamation and other tort claims based on comments they wrote on Podiatry Management Online's news forum, PM News "The Voice of Podiatrists". ...
- 02/18/2009 - 7:06pm - 0 comments

iXL Enterprises v. Doe

Date: 11/13/2000
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Georgia
Publication: Forum
iXL Enterprises, an Internet consulting company, sued to obtain the identity of an anonymous internet poster who criticized the company on a Yahoo! message board.  iXL claimed that the defendant was an iXL employee, and that the internet postings violated his/her employment...
- 02/18/2009 - 11:20am - 0 comments

Gibson v. Craigslist

Date: 09/04/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York
Publication: Website
New York City store owner Calvin Gibson sued craiglist, Inc. after a gunman shot him with a handgun allegedly purchased on craigslist. Gibson's lawsuit reportedly claims that neighbor Jesus Ortiz told police he had shot Gibson and that he had...
- 02/18/2009 - 11:00am - 0 comments

Caldwell v. Caldwell

Date: 10/14/2005
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Website
In October 2005, Jeanne Caldwell filed a complaint in federal court in California against Roy Caldwell, the Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology, David Lindberg, Chair of the Integrative Biology Department at UC Berkeley, and Michael Piburn,...
- 02/16/2009 - 6:08pm - 0 comments

Sinclair v. Democratic Underground

Date: 04/01/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: Subpoena Quashed
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
Publication: Forum, Website
In March 2008, Lawrence Sinclair sued three pseudonymous Internet users -- TubeSockTedD, mzmolly, and Owningliars -- for defamation in federal district court in the District of Columbia.  In late 2007/early 2008, Sinclair published a YouTube video and blog claiming that he had engaged...
- 02/10/2009 - 7:34pm - 0 comments

Sinclair v. TubeSockTedD

Date: 03/13/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: Dismissed (total), Subpoena Quashed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
Publication: Forum, Website
In March 2008, Lawrence Sinclair sued three pseudonymous Internet users -- TubeSockTedD, mzmolly, and Owningliars -- for defamation in federal district court in the District of Columbia.  In late 2007/early 2008, Sinclair published a YouTube video and blog claiming that he had engaged...
- 02/10/2009 - 6:58pm - 0 comments

State of Colorado v. Tafoya

Date: 10/01/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Criminal Charge
Jurisdiction: Colorado
Publication:
In late October 2008, Colorado authorities charged Robert Ezekiel Tafoya with one count of criminal libel.  According to the Pueblo Chieftan:  "The investigation showed that the defendant pasted pictures of the face of one person onto the body of other persons...
- 02/10/2009 - 3:43pm - 0 comments

INA v. Lee

Date: 01/12/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed, Material Reinstated
Type: Correspondence
Jurisdiction:
Publication: Website
Film commentator Kevin B. Lee posted some of his critical video essays on YouTube.  Lee's essays contain clips from the films he is reviewing. After receiving a DMCA takedown notice from the rightsholder to the film "And God Created Woman" (designated "INA"...
- 02/10/2009 - 2:19pm - 0 comments

Union Square Partnership v. Durkee

Date: 07/30/2008
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Settled (total)
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New York, Switzerland
Publication: Website
In July 2008, Union Square Partnership (USP), the nonprofit business improvement district for New York's Union Square neighborhood, sued Savitri Durkee for copyright infringement in New York federal court after she created a website that parodied the official...
- 02/10/2009 - 12:39pm - 0 comments

Carafano v. Metrosplash.com

Date: 10/27/2000
Status: Concluded
Disposition: Dismissed (total), Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Social Network
Actress Christianne Carafano (stage name Chase Masterson) sued Matchmaker.com, an internet dating site, after a user created a fake profile using Masterson's name, address, telephone number, and pictures.   Matchmaker.com is an internet dating site that allows members to post their own...
- 02/05/2009 - 10:51am - 0 comments

Koury v. Doe

Date: 01/30/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Michigan
Publication: Forum
Warren, Michigan commissioner David Koury filed a defamation lawsuit against an anonymous Internet user who criticized him in online forum postings.  According to a Macomb Daily report, the complaint does not specify the message board(s) that contain the allegedly defamatory...
- 02/05/2009 - 10:25am - 0 comments

Holsten v. Uptown Update and What the Helen

Date: 01/12/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Subpoena
Jurisdiction: Illinois
Publication: Blog
In the midst of a lawsuit over efforts to redevelop Wilson Yard in Chicago, developer Peter Holsten sent a subpoena to Google, Inc. for information regarding two anonymous Chicago blogs.  In December 2008, community group Fix...
- 02/04/2009 - 5:07pm - 0 comments

Pressler v. Mills (Lawsuit)

Date: 01/30/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: New Jersey
Publication: Blog, Broadcast
Sheldon H. Pressler, a principal of the law firm Pressler & Pressler LLP, sued Scott Mills, publisher of the CAIPNJ blog, for defamation in New Jersey state court.  The complaint also named CAIPNJ.org and CAIPNJRadio as defendants.  Pressler alleges...
- 02/04/2009 - 12:38pm - 0 comments

Chicago 2016 v. Frayne

Date: 07/15/2008
Status: Pending
Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: Illinois, Switzerland
Publication: Forum
In July 2008, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and Chicago 2016, a non-profit corporation responsible for the preparation, submission, and negotiation of a bid application to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to Chicago, filed an administrative complaint with the WIPO Arbitration...
- 02/02/2009 - 3:09pm - 1 comments

Virgin America v. Adrants Publishing

Date: 01/26/2009
Status: Pending
Disposition: Material Removed
Type: Lawsuit
Jurisdiction: California
Publication: Blog
California-based airline Virgin America filed a six-count complaint against the publisher and editors of Adrants, a blog focused on the advertising industry, after it published a post that was paired with a fake ad containing the Virgin logo...
- 01/29/2009 - 5:56pm - 0 comments

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