Speech: “Given the ‘in the marketplace’ modifier, the TCPA’s reference to ‘a good, product, or service’ does not swallow up every contract dispute arising from a communication about the contract. By referring to communications made in connection with goods, products, or services ‘in the marketplace,’ the definition confirms that the right of free speech involves communications connected to ‘a matter of public concern.'” Therefore. “[a] private contract dispute affecting only the fortunes of the private parties involved is simply not a ‘matter of public concern’ under any tenable understanding of those words” in the TCPA.
Petition: “The filings by the Ranch in this lawsuit and in the administrative proceeding before the Railroad Commission were an exercise of the right to petition as defined by the TCPA. The Operator’s counterclaim premised on those filings is therefore based on, related to, or in response to the Ranch’s exercise of the right to petition.” Creative Oil & Gas LLC v. Lona Hills Ranch LLC, No. 18-0656 (Dec. 20, 2019).
