Archives: First Amendment

Sex, Lies, and the First Amendment (but No Copyright): Hulk Hogan’s Leg Drop on Gawker

By Dominic Gentile on March 21, 2016 Posted in First Amendment, Privacy

On Friday night, a Florida jury delivered a stunning verdict in Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker Media LLC and its sundry entities, awarding the former wrestler and movie and television personality $115 million on claims that Gawker invaded Hogan’s privacy rights, and caused emotional distress. Although Hogan demanded only $100 million in damages, the jurors … Continue Reading

Native Advertising, the First Amendment and the FTC

By Maryanne Stanganelli on May 6, 2014 Posted in Advertising, First Amendment, FTC, Native Advertising, Social Media

Editor’s Note: This blog post is a joint submission with BakerHostetler’s Data Privacy Monitor blog. New York Partner Fernando A. Bohorquez, Jr. and Associate Alan Pate today published “All Native Advertising is Not Equal — Why that Matters Under the First Amendment and Why it Should Matter to the FTC” in the Media Law Resource … Continue Reading

Hulkamania is Running Wild: Let the Battle Begin (in Court)

By Oren J. Warshavsky on November 11, 2012 Posted in Copyright, Copyright Infringement, First Amendment

Terry Bollea, better known as the professional wrestler with the stage name Hulk Hogan (“Hogan”), is involved in an unattractive legal battle that presents an unusual intersection of the First Amendment, copyright law, and privacy/publicity issues. Hogan filed two lawsuits arising out of a 2006 sexual encounter with Heather Clem (“Heather”), then the wife of … Continue Reading

Time is Relative: California Court Determines that Einstein’s Right of Publicity Expired in 2005

By Oren J. Warshavsky on October 18, 2012 Posted in Copyright, First Amendment

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once,” Albert Einstein once quipped. But Einstein was not commenting on law, where the passage of time has a different significance—and now has resulted in a California federal judge ruling that Einstein’s right of publicity, which was claimed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (“HUJ”), has expired. … Continue Reading