Travis Crabtree

Travis Crabtree

Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C.


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GUEST POST: Start-Ups And The Unpaid Internship – The Legal Balancing Act

As the summer arrives in full force, I am watching a lot of my start-up friends take advantage of the unpaid internship to help with some needed coding, design or marketing projects they haven’t gotten to. ...more

6/10/2013 - DOL FLSA Minimum Wage Startups Unpaid Interns Volunteers Wages

Will There Be An “Eraser Button” On Social Media For Teens?

There are two bills (SB 568 and SB 501) working their way through the California Legislature that may require social media sites to erase the content of minors....more

6/7/2013 - COPPA Minors New Legislation Social Media

Texas Leg 2013 Wrap-Up – Texas Does Not Take The Lead On Social Media Issues

Although the Governor called a special session extending the Texas Legislative session, the topics to be addressed are political ones and not the ones we have been tracking....more

5/29/2013 - Advertising Hiring & Firing Human Trafficking Job Applicants Passwords Service of Process Social Media

You “Like” Me, You Really “Like” Me – Looking At The Legal Effect Of Facebook Likes And Friends

Is liking something expressive activity protected by the First Amendment? Does being a Facebook “friend” create the appearance of impropriety requiring the judge to recuse himself from the case?...more

5/24/2013 - Facebook Facebook Friends NLRB Social Media

Are The Legal Rules For User Generated Content Becoming More Nuanced?

The general legal advice to website operators who allowed User Generated Content (UGC) in the form of comments, videos or pictures used to be relatively easy....more

5/15/2013

Texas Leg Watch 2013: Banning Employers From Demanding Social Media Passwords Bill To Hit House Floor Tomorrow

As part of our continuing coverage of the Texas Legislature Watch (they only meet every other year in Texas), we look at the bill that would prohibit employers from demanding passwords or other access to the social media...more

4/30/2013 - Hiring & Firing Job Applicants Passwords Proposed Legislation Social Media

Viacom v. YouTube Update: What Does It Mean For Me?

The district court in New York dismissed Viacom’s lawsuit against YouTube yesterday. Yes, this case has been on appeal and remanded several times. Viacom may appeal the Second Circuit Court of Appeals once again, so it may...more

4/22/2013 - Copyright DCMA Infringement Safe Harbors Viacom Viacom v YouTube Willful Blindness YouTube

Social Media For The CEO: Lessons Learned From The Netflix/SEC Tussle And Reg FD

Yes, you can use social media to make material public disclosures. The SEC did not punish Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. The reality is, however, the SEC gave a warning to executives: we are not going to do anything this time...more

4/10/2013 - CEOs Facebook Investors Netflix Public Disclosure Reed Hastings Regulation FD SEC Social Media Training

Crowdfunding Not Quite As Open As Recent Reports May Suggest

My friends in the start-up community are excited about recent headlines suggesting the SEC has greenlighted crowdfunding. Leave it to the lawyer in the crowd to suggest they temper their excitement. As lawyers, we are used...more

4/3/2013 - Accredited Investors AngelList Broker-Dealer Crowdfunding Fundersclub.com General Solicitation SEC Startups

Don’t Rail On Your “F**** Idiot” Employees On The Net

No one likes to be sued. It may make you mad enough that you want to scream and holler on the Internet. There is a reason, however, a lot of lawyers recommend not commenting on personnel issues and pending litigation....more

3/27/2013 - Class Action Coyote Ugly Saloon Facebook FLSA Minimum Wage Retaliation Social Media

The Greatest Blog Post About Deceptive Advertising Ever Written*

Sometimes, I like to talk basics and this time it’s something as basic as “tell the truth.” I’ve never had a client come to me and say, “I would like to lie as much as possible in my advertising, can you help me?” It’s never...more

3/11/2013 - Disclosure Requirements Facebook False Advertising FDA FTC POM Wonderful Subway

The BYOD Policy: From The Yugo To The Cadillac

Your employees want to be able to use their own iPhones or Android devices at work. Angry Birds on the Blackberry is just not the same. This trend is being referred to as Bring Your Own Device or BYOD....more

3/5/2013 - Bring Your Own Device Data Protection Mobile Devices Sitton v Print Direction

Six Strikes And You’re Out: The Copyright Alert System Begins This Week

The movie industry, the music industry and five major internet service providers, with some input from the White House, quietly got together in 2011 and came up with a system that would allow the ISPs to notify individual...more

3/4/2013 - Copyright Copyright Alert System Illegal Digital Downloads ISPs Movies Six Strikes

Texas Leg Watch 2013: Bill Proposes To Allow Service Via Social Media

Texas State Representative Jeff Leach R-Plano (full disclosure – he is a lawyer in our Dallas office) proposed a bill (HB 1989) that would allow service via social media if the more traditional methods did not work first....more

3/1/2013 - Proposed Legislation Service of Process Social Media

What The Cybersecurity Executive Order Means For The Rest Of Us

If you are the CEO of Google, Facebook, Verizon, Comcast, Exxon or Boeing, don’t read this. You have a team of lawyers working for you who have already spent hours analyzing President Obama’s Cybersecurity executive order...more

2/26/2013 - Critical Infrastructure Sectors Cybersecurity Data Breach Data Breach Plans DHS EU Cybersecurity Directives Executive Orders Hackers Infrastructure NIST Personally Identifiable Information Social Media WISPs

Crowdfunding Now And What Was Supposed To Be

Crowdfunding is legal. Sort of. Before you start soliciting for investors on Facebook, you need to know that general solicitations to sell equity to your company not listed on the stock exchange or otherwise registered is...more

2/26/2013 - Crowdfunding General Solicitation JOBS Act SEC

My Open Letter To Congressman Poe On The Houston Business And Technology Roundtable

Yesterday, I had the privilege of taking part in a “Business and Technology Roundtable” with Congressman Ted Poe. The event was put on by SEMPO, HiMA and Google and was attended by marketing firms, well-known Houston brands...more

2/11/2013 - Big Data Communications Decency Act Do Not Track Google Opt-Outs Patent Reform Startups

Firing Employees For Their Social Media Content – First, Stop And Think [Audio]

Much has been written about whether you can fire someone for what they put on Facebook. Your gut reaction may be that surely if someone talks bad about the company, you can fire them. The National Relations Labor Board...more

1/29/2013 - Facebook First Amendment Free Speech Hiring & Firing NLRB Protected Concerted Activity

Texas Leg Watch 2013: Will Texas Prohibit Employers From Asking For Social Media Passwords?

Democratic Texas State Representative Helen Giddings filed a bill prohibiting employers in Texas from asking for social media passwords from applicants and current employees. Texas joins a long list of states that have...more

1/9/2013 - Passwords Social Media

Trends For 2013 In Internet And Marketing Law

After looking at the most popular posts from 2012 in our last edition, today we look at what are likely going to be the big trends for 2013 in internet and marketing law. ...more

1/4/2013 - Advertising CISPA Communications Decency Act COPPA Cybersecurity FTC Internet Marketing Patent Reform Patents Software Technology

Most Popular Posts Of 2012

Yes, it’s the lazy way to do a post during the week before Christmas and New Year. In my next post, we will use this information to help predict the trends of legal issues for online media, marketing, internet law and...more

12/28/2012 - Anti-SLAPP Copyright Defamation Domain Names Internet SOPA

Will The Instagram Fuss Cause A Shift For Brands On Social Media In 2013?

By now, you have probably read the uproar caused by Instagram’s proposed change to the terms of service this week. On Monday, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, added the following...more

12/24/2012 - Advertising Facebook Instagram Social Media Terms of Use

Legal Guidelines For CEOs On Social Media – Avoid The Netflix Issue

In July, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings posted on Facebook that viewing on his company’s site “exceeded 1 billion hours” of videos in June. The stock rose 6.2% on the day of the post. Last week, the SEC sent Netflix notice it...more

12/11/2012 - Disclosure Requirements Facebook Netflix SEC Social Media Twitter

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