Legal Threats Database

legal threats database Welcome to the CMLP's database of legal threats! The database contains lawsuits, cease & desist letters, subpoenas, and other legal threats directed at those who engage in online speech. You can view, search, and comment on every entry in the database. Interested in lawsuits against bloggers? You'll find them on the Lawsuits Involving Blogs page. How about threats involving forum posts and user comments? You'll find those here. You can use our advanced search page to sort the entries by any criterion of your choosing, as well as perform full-text searching of the underlying documents.

We need your help to keep the database accurate and up to date. If you've been threatened with legal action or know of someone who has, please let us know by using our contact form or by entering the information directly into the database through our easy to use threat entry form. If you have questions, check out our database FAQ.

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New Threat Entries

  • Ricobene v. JP Morgan Chase
    Added:
    July 1st, 2009
    James Ricobene filed suit against JP Morgan Chase and collection agency Universal Tracing Services (UTS) after a UTS employee allegedly posted a message on Ricobene's daughter's MySpace page threatening legal action if he did not surrender his 2007 Mercedes GL450, which he...
  • Consociate Inc. v. Macon County Shared Vision
    Added:
    June 30th, 2009
    Administrators of the employee healthcare plan for the city of Decatur, Illinois filed a defamation lawsuit against Macon County Shared Vision, a concerned-citizens group that criticized high healthcare costs in several website postings. Defendants moved to dismiss the complaint under Illinois anti-SLAPP statute,...
  • Tanner Friedman v. Doe
    Added:
    June 30th, 2009
    TFSC, LLC, a public relations firms doing business as Tanner Friedman, is suing an unknown Twitter user in a Detroit federal district court seeking injunctive relief and damages arising out of his use of the Twitter account "tannerfriedman."  Tanner Friedman, in its...
  • Skutt Catholic High School v. Does
    Added:
    June 30th, 2009
    Skutt Catholic High School sued anonymous Wikipedia posters over critical edits posted to the school's Wikipedia page in 2006. The posts criticized the quality of education at the school and its high tuition, used vulgar language, and referenced student drug use. After...
  • Jacob v. Bezzant
    Added:
    June 26th, 2009
    In 1999, Brett Bezzant, then-owner of the American Fork Citizen New Utah!, a local newspaper, published a political advertisement prepared and paid for by Bill Jacob, which claimed that an American Fork City ordinance barred two men from running for City Council,...
  • Bible & Gospel Trust v. Twinam
    Added:
    June 26th, 2009
    Bible & Gospel Trust, associated with a religious group known as the Exclusive Brethren, sued Sallie and Timothy Twinam claiming that they were the owners and operators of the website Peebs.net, which is critical of the Exclusive Brethren....
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Most Viewed Threat Entries

  • Doe v. Fortuny
    Total Views:
    31398
    On February 20, 2008, an anonymous plaintiff sued Jason Fortuny in Illinois federal court for copyright infringement, invasion of privacy through the publication of private facts, and intrusion, after Mr. Fortuny allegedly posted his photograph and personal information on the Internet. Mr....
  • Johnson v. Tucker Max
    Total Views:
    13733
    Tucker Max maintains a website detailing his sexual exploits with women. He had a relationship with former Miss Vermont, Katy Johnson, and put the entire story on his website under the title, the "Miss Vermont Story." Johnson sued Max in...
  • Doninger v. Niehoff
    Total Views:
    7923
    Administrators barred a Connecticut high school student from running in a student election after the student critized admininstrators online for their handling of a student festival. In the spring of 2007, Jamfest, a yearly music festival at a Connecticut high school, experienced...
  • Xyience Inc. v. Bergeron
    Total Views:
    7291
    Xyience Inc., a manufacturer of energy drinks and supplements, sued Rich Bergeron in Nevada state court over statements posted on his MySpace.com page and website, unlimitedfightnews.com. According to the complaint, Bergeron posted an article to his MySpace page that contained allegations that...
  • Julius Baer Bank and Trust v. Wikileaks
    Total Views:
    6357
    On February 6, 2008, Julius Baer Bank and Trust Company, a Cayman Islands banking entity, filed suit in federal court in California against Wikileaks, which is developing an "uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis." ...
  • Snyder v. Phelps
    Total Views:
    6098
    The Westboro Baptist Church is a fundamentalist Christian church that contends that God kills soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuality and for the presence of gays in the U.S. military. The church operates a number of...
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