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Savage1: This is not meant to be offensive, but it seems to me that you are overanalyzing this too much.
Non-criminal lawsuits are always based on a complaint. The complaint must allege at least one "cause of action." That's the ultimate threshold question...if you have no valid cause of action, your case will be thrown out. A cause of action is the legal basis by which a plaintiff can sue the defendent.
In this case, the cause of action is copyright law. Under US copyright law, one can get a copyright for any "original" work regardless of content, assuming it doesn't offend some other preemptive Federal law, such as national security. So any suit about a gambling book under copyright law is purely about the copyright violation. It is not a statement of the legality of the content of the copyrighted material.
The example you mention regarding providing false or mispresenting pick is covered under most states' consumer law statutes. Please note this is generally irrelevent to the issue of copyright law.
In the example you mention, there is already a cause of action available. In many states, the threshold question would be whether an ordinary, reasonable person would believe the paid pick to be "mere puffery" or a "representation of fact."
For example, there is a difference between saying "this is a fantastic car that runs great" and saying "this car has never been into an accident" (when it actually was in an accident.) One is a typical salesman exaggeration tactic, and the other is a clear misrepresentation of fact that may induce the buyer to purchase on the basis of such statement.
The question of mere puffery or representation of fact is left for the judge or jury.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Non-criminal lawsuits are always based on a complaint. The complaint must allege at least one "cause of action." That's the ultimate threshold question...if you have no valid cause of action, your case will be thrown out. A cause of action is the legal basis by which a plaintiff can sue the defendent.
In this case, the cause of action is copyright law. Under US copyright law, one can get a copyright for any "original" work regardless of content, assuming it doesn't offend some other preemptive Federal law, such as national security. So any suit about a gambling book under copyright law is purely about the copyright violation. It is not a statement of the legality of the content of the copyrighted material.
The example you mention regarding providing false or mispresenting pick is covered under most states' consumer law statutes. Please note this is generally irrelevent to the issue of copyright law.
In the example you mention, there is already a cause of action available. In many states, the threshold question would be whether an ordinary, reasonable person would believe the paid pick to be "mere puffery" or a "representation of fact."
For example, there is a difference between saying "this is a fantastic car that runs great" and saying "this car has never been into an accident" (when it actually was in an accident.) One is a typical salesman exaggeration tactic, and the other is a clear misrepresentation of fact that may induce the buyer to purchase on the basis of such statement.
The question of mere puffery or representation of fact is left for the judge or jury.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
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