December 2009
3 posts
4 tags
Gawker Media Declares Joe Francis Libel-Proof
This is a bit of a stretch, but we admire Gawker Media’s legal department for this response to Joe Francis’ complaint of defamation: “Given his chosen career and his actions to date, it would be hard to say that your client really has any reputation of social probity and standing to damage at this point, now does he?” Well, she may actually have a point! For instance:...
4 tags
A tardy update in Dane et al v Gawker Media: more than two weeks ago now, Marty Singer, who represents the TV stars involved in the year’s most famous non-sex sex tape, objected to Gawker’s motion to strike, calling it a “premature motion.” This was bizarre. Why wouldn’t any defendant file such a motion? It’s the obvious first step. This is just another case of...
3 tags
November 2009
8 posts
2 tags
Grady Sizemore and Deadspin
Deadspin this morning gets a letter from the Department of Investigations of the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, regarding their publication of naked pictures of baseball player Grady Sizemore: The photos posted in the article cited below are the property of Grady Sizemore. They were stolen from a personal computer. We’ve begun an investigation and request that you...
2 tags
"i have seen list of top earner bloggers"
So few updates on Gawker lawsuits this week. But our Google alert for “Nick Denton” brings this choice bit of spam farming today: Guys today during surf i have seen list of top earner bloggers. This list is usefull for every person who want to earn through blogs. You can get some ideas, good niche and last but not least the spiritThe “site” goes on to claim that something...
3 tags
Ask a Second-Year Law Student: Dane et al v....
Rob Arcamona, of Protecting the Source, writes on Mediashift about Gawker and fair use regarding the McSteamy non-sex tape. Dane and Gayheart appear to have a valid claim against Gawker for copyright infringement. However, Gawker has a formidable defense by way of the “fair use” exception. It’s important to note that the four factors outlined above are not examined in isolation...
3 tags
Deadspin Withdraws Untrue Story
Deadspin, to their credit, published a lengthy retraction today of a first-person story. The story, published yesterday, was about how “ASU baseball coach Pat Murphy accosted” the storyteller “at a charity event.” The story’s author also later published his conversation with the source:
ME: Did you lie when you wrote this, Asshole?
ASSHOLE: I did not, but the...
3 tags
Salisbury v. Gawker Media: Now with AJ, Et Al
AJ Daulerio was added as a defendant earlier this week in former ESPN guy Sean Salisbury’s defamation suit against Deadspin. Related: Gawker’s Gaby Darbyshire is showing her foreign barristerness by giving the following comment by email, which the Mckinney Courier-Gazette rudely sic’d: “Besides, the truth is an absolute defence (sic) to libel, and the gory truth will come...
1 tag
Jones v. Minkin Already Done and Gone →
Oh and as soon as that bit of fun over at Above the Law began, it has went: the attorney-plaintiff packed his bags and went home. That will not be occurring soon in any of the ongoing Gawker Media suits.
youngmanhattanite:
dminkin:
Yeah dawg.
Happy to have done our part in reblogging.
1 tag
Above the Law: Jones v. Minkin →
In other blogs-getting-sued news, there is this doozy, in which a law professor is suing law gossip blog Above the Law. No one seems to think that the poorly-written complaint will last a minute in court.
3 tags
Dane and Gayheart v. Gawker Media: Gawker Files...
Reports THR, Esq.: On Friday, Gawker filed a Motion to Strike that doesn’t address the legitimacy of whether “McSteamy” is entitled to a copyright in the tape, but instead takes issue with the amount of money Dane and Gayheart claim they are owed for Gawker’s copyright transgression.
The Motion to Strike points out that the videotape was neither published by the...
October 2009
4 posts
3 tags
Dane & Gayheart v. Gawker Media: Marty Singer...
As the McSteamy complaint against Gawker grinds on behind the scenes, it’s definitely worth returning to the historical record on their attorney, celebrity-representer Marty Singer. This is from a Ross Johnson profile of Singer in the May 2000 Los Angeles Magazine.
An August 1996 Buzz magazine article dissected Singer’s rabid attempts to discredit [journalist John] Connolly,...
3 tags
“Rush closed out the hour by proclaiming that the NY-23 race [that’s the...”
– Transcript of the Rush Limbaugh show for October 30, 2009.
2 tags
Gawker Makes Minor Steps Vaguely Towards Gender... →
Apparently two women are now auditioning in the night job positions at Gawker, although one of them is pseudonymous. We are presuming she is a woman. (Much as everyone presumes Gawker commenter KarenUhOh is a woman?) Letting people write under pseudonyms will cause a future problem for Gawker, is our prediction, although probably an ethical one rather than a legal one. katiebakes:
fimoculous:
...
3 tags
Sean Salisbury Lawsuit Posted: Sean Salisbury v...
Deadspin has posted a Texas filing by Sean Salisbury, a former ESPN employee. The filing says that Deadspin began a “long-running smear campaign” in 2007, when it claimed that the ESPN analyst took a photo of his penis and showed it to people at an employee’s going-away party. An amount of the material attributed to Deadpsin is actually quotation from another sports site called...