August 28, 2008

Publication of Private Facts

Wargo v. Lavandeira

Date: 07/14/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Ohio	Publication: Blog

Diane Wargo sued Mario Lavandeira, also known as Perez Hilton, and 25 anonymous PerezHilton.com posters in Ohio state court after Lavandeira published an email containing homophobic slurs that Wargo sent to the blog from her work email account....

Legal Threat - Arthur Bright - 08/11/2008 - 5:01pm - 0 comments

Doe v. Fortuny

Date: 02/20/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Illinois	Publication: Blog; Website

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....

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 08/08/2008 - 3:06pm - 0 comments

Evans v. Evans

Date: 03/02/2007	Status: Pending	Disposition: Injunction Denied; Injunction Issued
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Website; Other

In March 2007, Thomas Evans, a deputy sheriff in the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, sued his his former wife, Linda Evans, and her mother, Shirley Preddy, for defamation, harassment, invasion of privacy, and other claims. After Thomas and Linda Evans divorced in 2002, they engaged...

Legal Threat - Sam Bayard - 08/14/2008 - 1:43pm - 0 comments

Frisco Fairways Homeowners Association v. Snell

Date: 02/15/2008	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Settled
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Texas	Publication: Forum

In February 2008, the Frisco Fairways Homeowners Association filed a defamation suit against three homeowners after they posted critical comments about the association on an online community forum. According to the Dallas News, the lawsuit claims that Mr. Snell,...

Legal Threat - CMLP Staff - 06/04/2008 - 12:39pm - 0 comments

Perez Hilton v. Jonathan Jaxson

Date: 04/09/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Blog; Print

On April 8, 2008, Perez Hilton sued fellow gossip-blogger Jonathan Jaxson for libel, slander, invasion of privacy, harassment, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Jaxson, the former publicist for the Backstreet Boys whose real name is Jonathan Wayne Lewandowski, operates a blog called ...

Legal Threat - David Ardia - 06/06/2008 - 6:24pm - 0 comments

Alkateeb v. Does

Date: 05/13/2005	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: New York	Publication: Email; Forum

Naji A. Alkateeb and Deanna R. Wilson-Alkateeb filed a "John Doe" lawsuit in federal district court in New York in May 2005. According to court documents, several anonymous Internet users (using Google and Hushmail email addresses) allegedly posted insulting comments, threats, and...

Legal Threat - Matt C. Sanchez - 05/25/2008 - 3:11pm - 0 comments

Hilton v. Persa

Date: 01/29/2007	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Injunction Issued; Settled; Withdrawn
Type: Lawsuit	Location: California	Publication: Website

Paris Hilton sued Bardia Persa, Nabil Haniss, Nabila Haniss, and a number of anonymous defendants in January 2007 for copyright infringement, publication of private facts, and misapproriation of her right of publicity. The case revolved around a website, Paris...

Legal Threat - Sam Bayard - 04/22/2008 - 10:21pm - 0 comments

Swartz v. Does

Date: 02/11/2008	Status: Pending	Disposition: n/a
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Tennessee	Publication: Blog; Website

In February 2008, Donald and Terry Keller Swartz sued three anonymous defendants for defamation and invasion of privacy in a Tennessee state court. The Swartzes are a prominent couple in Old Hickory, Tennessee, where they buy and restore real estate, manage rental...

Legal Threat - Sam Bayard - 06/09/2008 - 12:49pm - 0 comments

Snyder v. Phelps

Date: 06/05/2006	Status: Pending	Disposition: Dismissed (partial); Verdict (plaintiff)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Maryland	Publication: Website; Other

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...

Legal Threat - Sam Bayard - 06/11/2008 - 3:29pm - 0 comments

Cahill v. Doe

Date: 11/02/2004	Status: Concluded	Disposition: Dismissed (total)
Type: Lawsuit	Location: Delaware	Publication: Blog

Using the alias "Proud Citizen," an anonymous commenter posted two statements on the "Smyrna/Clayton Issues Blog," a website sponsored by the Delaware State News. The statements criticized Patrick Cahill, a City Councilman of Smyrna, saying that Cahill was "paranoid" and had undergone...

Legal Threat - Sam Bayard - 04/15/2008 - 8:51pm - 0 comments

Copyright 2007-2008 Citizen Media Law Project and respective authors. Except where otherwise noted,
content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License: Details.
Use of this site is pursuant to our Terms of Use and Privacy Notice.