Digital Commons Network^™

Acmh, Inc. V. Williams

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the court granted the tenant's summary judgment motion and dismissed the petition. The landlord, a supportive housing provider, failed to plead that the premises and tenancy are subject to OMH and DOHMH regulations, violating RPAPL § 741. The court noted the landlord's prior awareness of this pleading requirement, rejecting claims of inadvertence. It found significant prejudice to the unrepresented tenant due to this omission, which prevented proper adjudication. The landlord's cross-motion to amend the petition was denied.

417 E 9th Partners Llc And Witnick 417 E 9th St Llc V Agresti

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the landlord, having already secured a judgment of possession and partial use and occupancy (U&O) after trial, moved for an additional money judgment for subsequent U&O and attorneys' fees. The tenant contended that MDL §302(1)(a) barred U&O collection due to a Certificate of Occupancy issue and that HSTPA amendments to RPAPL §702 precluded legal fees in summary proceedings. The court granted the landlord's motion, finding the U&O argument was barred by law of the case. It further held that RPAPL §702's intent was to prevent evictions for non-payment of fees mischaracterized as rent, not to prohibit …

Sweat And Subjectivity Copyright Impulses, Danny Friedmann

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Generative artificial intelligence (gAI) is generating vast vol- umes of content, including visual art with minimal human effort that competes directly with visual artists and threatens to dilute human culture in the process. In response, courts and copyright offices are quietly reintroducing two doctrines long considered incompatible with modern copyright: sweat of the brow, which rewards labor over originality, and aesthetic discrimination, which risks conditioning protection on perceived merit.

This article is the first to demonstrate how legal authorities are reintroducing these discredited doctrines under the guise of regulating AI-assisted outputs, thereby eroding the set of copyright doctrines accepted by …

How Ftc Data Security Cases Inform The Development Of Legally Accountable Software, Jeff Kosseff, Ellis Fenske, Christopher Brown, Daniel S. Roche

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

Over the past two decades, the Federal Trade Commission has brought dozens of enforcement actions against companies for failing to adequately secure customers’ personal information. The actions typically result in a consent decree, in which the company agrees to improve its data security practices and provide the FTC with oversight of those improvements. When the FTC first brought data security cases, its orders generally required the companies to adopt “reasonable” data security programs. But a 2018 Eleventh Circuit opinion, LabMD v. FTC, requires the orders to contain far more specific data security requirements. In this Article, we conduct an in-depth …

Gladys Hampton Affordable Preservation, Llc. V. Goodwin

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the tenant moved to consolidate several similar proceedings against the same landlord, citing common issues regarding VAWA compliance and the landlord's alleged failure to serve required HUD-5382 forms as a condition precedent. The landlord cross-moved for sanctions, alleging frivolous conduct. The court partially granted the tenant's motion to consolidate, combining cases in similar procedural postures involving the same building and petitioner. The court denied the landlord's cross-motion, finding the tenant's motion was not frivolous. The tenant's motion to dismiss the petitions was deferred and restored for a future status conference.

All Bets Are On: Addiction, Prediction, Regulation, And The Future Of Financial Gambling, Sharon Rabinovitz, Nizan G. Packin

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

This Article challenges traditional financial regulation by exploring how prediction markets—initially developed as sophisticated tools for collective forecasting—increasingly resemble gambling venues. These platforms, once designed to harness crowd wisdom, have transformed into high-stakes ecosystems where engage- ment-driven features blur the boundary between forecasting and betting. This evolution presents a dual challenge: on one hand, certain platforms, including regulated ones, offer innovative avenues for price discovery and risk hedging; on the other, their gamblified design exposes users to significant behavioral and financial risks.

Through comprehensive empirical analysis of gamblification and self-determination manipulation across five prediction market interfaces, this Article demonstrates how …

Aldus Green Company V. Beck

All Decisions

In this non-payment proceeding, the landlord's motion to restore the case and for a money judgment and warrant of eviction was denied. The court found that the landlord failed to provide a reasonable excuse for the significant delay of over 31 months in seeking restoration after the parties had previously settled the matter by stipulation. This period was well beyond the one-year statutory limit set by 22 NYCRR § 208.14(c). The court also considered the potential prejudice to the 71-year-old long-term rent-regulated tenant, noting that restoring the matter for judgment on years of unchallenged rent could be unfair.

Eqr-228 W. 71st Llc V. Ford

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding alleging nuisance, the tenant moved for summary judgment, asserting the landlord failed to state a cause of action by not marking the specific good cause ground on the required GCEL notice, despite acknowledging the premises was subject to GCEL. The landlord argued GCEL applied only to non-renewal cases, not to terminations based on conduct. The court disagreed, holding that GCEL applies to all tenants in covered housing accommodations irrespective of lease expiration or tenancy type. Since the landlord failed to specify the applicable good cause basis in the GCEL notice, the tenant's motion for summary judgment …

Ramirez V. Garcia

All Decisions

In this nonrenewal of tenancy holdover proceeding, the landlord moved to strike the tenant's jury demand. The court granted the landlord's motion, holding that the tenant waived the right to a jury trial by asserting counterclaims seeking equitable relief, including a declaratory judgment to permanently reduce future rent from $1,300 to $725 and overcharge damages. The court found that the rent adjustment counterclaim was equitable in nature and not merely incidental to the demand for monetary damages, thus triggering a waiver of the jury trial right under CPLR § 4101.

East 93rd St Associates Lp V. Walters

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the tenant moved for summary judgment seeking to bar the landlord from collecting rent under MDL § 302-a due to a rent-impairing violation and asserting a harassment counterclaim. The court denied summary judgment on the MDL § 302-a claim, ruling that the tenant failed to conclusively prove that HPD mailed the notice of violation to the landlord, a material element of the defense. The harassment claim, based on the landlord's repeated failure to make repairs, was also denied as an issue of fact existed regarding the tenant's alleged refusal to provide access. The case was adjourned …

Afternoon Delight Fifth Avenue Associates, Llc V. Campbell

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the landlord sought possession of a deregulated apartment after serving a non-renewal notice under RPL 226-c. The landlord moved for use and occupancy. The tenant cross-moved for leave to amend their answer and for summary judgment, arguing the landlord failed to serve the predicate notice. The court granted the tenant's motions, deeming the amended answer served and dismissing the proceeding without prejudice. The court found no affidavit of service of the predicate notice in the record, a statutory requirement and condition precedent for maintaining the holdover, thus denying the landlord's motion as moot.

The Native American Graves Protection And Repatriation Act As A Model Of Cultural Sovereignty For Protecting Indigenous Sacred Site, Michalyn Steele

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

When The Taxpayers Are Not Innocent: The Need For Punitive Damages Against Municipalities Under The Fair Housing Act, Charlotte Saltzman

Fordham Law Review

Combatting housing discrimination by municipalities is a core function of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Courts disagree, however, as to whether punitive damages can be awarded against municipal defendants. The purpose of this Note is twofold. First, it compares the Second Circuit’s recent decision in Gilead Community Services, Inc. v. Town of Cromwell, which held that punitive damages were appropriate against the Town of Cromwell, with the reasoning of district courts that came to the opposite conclusion in reliance on § 1983 precedent. Second, notwithstanding the sufficiency of the statutory analysis, it evaluates the public policy concerns of awarding …

Recalibrating Risk Under Dobbs, Yvonne Lindgren, Michelle Oberman

Fordham Law Review

In response to mounting evidence of the devastating harms patients have experienced under abortion bans, abortion opponents and the Supreme Court of Texas have argued that the bans are clear but that doctors are willfully refusing to provide care. Instead of reforming the bans, they argue that doctors should be sued in medical malpractice for their failure to meet the standard of care. This Article interrogates that claim, investigating whether the crisis in reproductive healthcare that has resulted from delayed and denied care can be remedied by suing doctors. Specifically, can medical malpractice litigation provide guardrails against the erosion in …

Remarks, Amassador Abubakar Jidda

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Defining “Cases” Or “Controversies”: A Fundamental Confusion In Article Iii Standing Doctrine And Its Consequences In Multi-Plaintiff Litigation, Dominic Signa

Fordham Law Review

The United States Supreme Court has addressed the absolute core requirements of standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution on several occasions. However, the Court has not clearly articulated what purpose standing serves relative to Article III’s limitations on the exercise of judicial power to only “cases” or “controversies,” and this has led to major downstream effects in the realm of multi plaintiff litigation. Specifically, the Court has not explained whether standing is meant to ensure (1) that all potential plaintiffs demonstrate that they are properly parties to the same case or controversy before a federal court or (2) …

Cultural Property Protection As A National Security Enforcement Priority, Andrew C. Adams

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corporeal Property And The Limits Of Nagpra, M. Alexander Pearl

Fordham Law Review

No abstract provided.

Seeing The Humanity In Each Object: Finding Justice Amid The Law, Gideon Taylor, Ruth J. Weinberger

Fordham Law Review

The restitution of Nazi-looted cultural and religious property remains an important aspect of providing a measure of justice for Holocaust victims and their heirs. The United States has played a leading role, from early postwar restitution efforts to shaping international principles, such as the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art (the “Washington Conference Principles”), the Terezin Declaration, and the recent Best Practices for the Washington Conference Principles. Yet restitution within the United States continues to rely largely on litigation, with varying outcomes and limited provenance research compared to some European countries. The following Essay examines America’s contributions and challenges and …

Oligarchy, State, And Cryptopia, Julie E. Cohen

Fordham Law Review

Theoretical accounts of power in networked digital environments typically do not give systematic attention to the phenomenon of oligarchy—to extreme concentrations of material wealth deployed to obtain and protect durable personal advantage. The biggest technology platform companies are dominated to a singular extent by a small group of very powerful and extremely wealthy men who have played uniquely influential roles in structuring technological development in particular ways that align with their personal beliefs and who now wield unprecedented informational, sociotechnical, and political power. Developing an account of oligarchy and, more specifically, of tech oligarchy within contemporary political economy therefore has …

It’S A Balancing Act: Analyzing The First Fair Use Factor, Taylor Gluckman

Fordham Law Review

Fair use has always been an important element of copyright law. The first fair use factor, “the purpose and character of the use,” has become especially important after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. v. Goldsmith. The “purpose and character” is typically analyzed by determining if a secondary work is “transformative,” but lower courts do not agree on what it means to be transformative. There is also disagreement on how to balance a secondary work’s transformative nature with its commercial nature when deciding whether the first factor favors fair use.

This …

17 Eldridge Street Corp. V. Saavedra

All Decisions

The landlord commenced a nonpayment proceeding. The tenant moved for summary judgment to dismiss the petition, arguing the predicate rent demand was fatally defective because it lacked the required Good Cause Eviction Law (GCEL) notice under RPL § 231-c. The landlord conceded the omission but cross-moved to amend the petition. The court found the GCEL notice requirement mandatory for rent demands under RPAPL § 711(2). Adhering to the rule that predicate notices are unamendable, the court granted the tenant's motion, dismissing the petition without prejudice, and denied the landlord's cross-motion as moot. The tenant substantially won.

1712-1715 Hdfc, Inc. V. Lambert

All Decisions

Landlord commenced a licensee/squatter holdover proceeding against the tenant, the daughter of the deceased prior tenant, seeking possession of a Project Based Section 8 apartment. The tenant asserted succession rights. The primary legal issue was whether the tenant's omission from the prior tenant's annual HUD recertification forms precluded her succession claim, given the building's Project Based Section 8 status. The court found that such an omission created a rebuttable presumption, not an absolute bar. After a trial where the tenant presented substantial documentary and testimonial evidence of co-occupancy that was largely unrefuted, the court ruled in favor of the tenant, …

Lo. Buildings Llc V. Brown

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the tenant moved to dismiss, alleging the landlord failed to use the required Notice of Petition form mandated by 22 NYCRR § 208.42(b) and Administrative Order 163/19. The court found that the landlord's omission of the phrase "or are deaf or hard of hearing" from the interpretation services section constituted a substantive and fatal defect, akin to a defective predicate notice. Citing precedent, the court held the Notice of Petition was not amendable, thus granting the tenant's motion and dismissing the proceeding. The landlord's cross-motion was not considered.

Parco V. Fisch

All Decisions

The court denied the tenant's motion to dismiss a holdover petition, finding the predicate notice sufficient despite lacking detailed small landlord exemption proof. The landlord was permitted to amend the petition to include Good Cause Eviction Law (GCEL) small landlord exemption information required by RPL § 214(1), as such pleading defects are amendable. The tenant's motion for leave to file an answer was largely granted, and limited discovery was ordered regarding the landlord's claimed exemption and the tenant's harassment counterclaims, while overly broad discovery demands were stricken.

Gvs Props. Ii, Llc V. Walton

All Decisions

A landlord initiated a holdover proceeding, alleging occupants were licensees. The tenants moved to dismiss, contending they were tenants at sufferance or at will, thus requiring a 30-day notice of termination under RPL § 228, not the 10-day notice served. The landlord argued a prior Appellate Division decision, which found tenants were not rent-stabilized, estopped this claim. The court disagreed, holding that prior findings did not preclude the tenants from arguing non-licensee status. Recognizing the tenants had exclusive possession, the court determined they were improperly classified as licensees, rendering the 10-day notice insufficient and dismissing the petition without prejudice.

Chan V. Encalada

All Decisions

In a nonpayment proceeding, the landlord's petition was dismissed. After a trial on tenant's counterclaims, the court found for the tenant, awarding a $20,000 rent abatement for breach of warranty of habitability due to conditions like damaged floors, mold, lack of heat/cooking gas, and pests. The tenant also proved harassment, receiving $1,000 in compensatory damages and $35,000 in punitive damages, citing the landlord's omission of essential services demonstrating intent or malice, including physical assaults. The court also ordered the landlord to correct all outstanding DHPD violations.

Rogers Realty Llc. V. Phillip

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the tenant moved to amend her answer and dismiss the case, arguing the landlord failed to comply with LLCL § 206 by not publishing its incorporation details when the action commenced. The landlord submitted proof of belated publication. The court granted the tenant's motion to amend the answer but denied the motion to dismiss. It held that the landlord's failure to comply with LLCL § 206 at the time of commencement was not a jurisdictional defect and could be cured nunc pro tunc by subsequent publication, thereby allowing the landlord to maintain the action.

Jacin Invs. Corp., N.V. V. Von Vogt

All Decisions

In this holdover proceeding, the Appellate Term reversed the lower court's dismissal of the landlord's petition and ordered a new trial. The landlord sought to recover possession, arguing the apartment became deregulated after a rent-controlled tenant vacated, due to vacancy increases and individual apartment improvements (IAIs). The Civil Court dismissed, citing the landlord's failure to register the apartment as deregulated or stabilized. The Appellate Term held that regulatory status derives from statute, not registration errors or estoppel. The matter is remanded to evaluate the landlord's IAI evidence and the "first rent" legality, as no statute of limitations bars determining an …

Hussain V. Nelson

All Decisions

The landlord commenced a holdover proceeding against the tenant, classifying them as a licensee following a foreclosure. The tenant moved to dismiss, arguing the termination notice was defective. The court determined the tenant, a former owner who sold the property to an entity that later faced foreclosure, was actually a tenant at sufferance, not a licensee. As such, the tenant was entitled to a 30-day notice of termination under RPL § 228, not the 10-day notice issued under RPAPL § 713. The court granted the tenant's motion to dismiss the proceeding without prejudice due to the improper predicate notice.