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Entertainment Law & Finance
Executive Producers’ “Most Favored Nations” Clauses Could Be Applied to Walking Dead Series Producer’s Profit-Participation Settlement
Stan Soocher
Can the settlement of a lawsuit by one profit participant in a TV production be used to increase the contingent compensation provisions of other profit participants in the show?
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Entertainment Law & Finance
In-House Counsel Perspective on Negotiating Social Media Influencer Contracts
Chris O’Malley
With the FTC amping up its scrutiny in the social media influencer space, in-house counsel has an opportunity to mitigate risk and help their companies get more bang for their influencer marketing buck.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Pursuing AI Programmers and Third Parties over Alleged Rights Violations Caused by AI Software
Jonathan Bick
Because AIs are capable of causing harm but cannot be a legal entity, they are not held accountable by court action. Several current and future possibilities exist to resolve AI difficulties. Current options involve identifying indirect liability. Future options include but are not limited to changing the law to make an AI a legal person and/or changing the law to make AI programing an ultra-hazardous activity.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable recent court filings in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Amazon Didn’t Exceed Scope of License to Stream Chinese Drama
California Talent Agency’s Lawsuit in Texas Won’t Be Stayed Pending Proceeding Before California Labor Commissioner
King Holmes Fires Back at Band’s Legal Malpractice Complaint
No Substantial Similarity Found Between TV Show Abbott Elementary and Plaintiff’s Teacher-Focused Treatment for Proposed TV Series
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Entertainment Law & Finance
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Whether Copyright Plaintiffs Can Reach Back More Than Three Years for Infringement Damages
Stan Soocher
In a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit decided that a copyright plaintiff may recover damages that occur more than three years before a copyright lawsuit is filed.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Nugent Photo Copyright Dispute Offers Appellate Look at Post-Warhol Fair-Use Analysis
Avalon Zoppo
The Fourth Circuit ruled that a copyright infringement claim against a news site, for using a photo of musician Ted Nugent without credit, could proceed, one of the first federal appellate decisions interpreting the U.S. Supreme Court’s most recent iteration of the fair use test.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Counsel Concerns
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Malpractice Claims Filed Against Loeb & Loeb and Of Counsel Over King Fury 2 Film Production
King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano Sued for Malpractice Over Representation of Sublime Band
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable recent court filings in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Justin Timberlake Appeals After His Anti-SLAPP Motion Fails to Stick In Documentary Deal Litigation
Texas Federal Magistrate Finds California Unfair Competition Claim Should Be Ejected from Litigation Between Talent Agencies and That Dispute Should First Be Heard by California Labor Commissioner
TV/Film Development Software Can Be Trade Secret
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Can Anti-SLAPP Motion Denials Be Immediately Appealed?
Avalon Zoppo
In a move of keen interest to the entertainment industry, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has agreed to review whether a judge’s denial of a motion to strike a California Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation suit can be immediately appealed by the defendant who claims the case was brought solely to chill its speech.
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How New York Times’ Lawsuit Over AI Software Copying Differs From Prior Copyright Complaints
Isha Marathe
The New York Times’ copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft is said to be AI’s “Napster Moment.” But observers are torn about the case’s legal merits, citing differing views around how exactly AI “Large Language Models” are trained.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
All the News That’s Fit to Pinch: NYT v. OpenAI Could Be Most Troublesome of AI Copyright Cases
Jonathan Moskin and Rachel Pauley
The emerging cases by authors and copyright owners challenging various generative AI programs for using copyrighted materials are certain to create new troubles for the courts being asked to apply the fair use doctrine to this important new technology.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable court filings in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players on the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Keeping Track of Developments in Cases That Pit Creative Content Against AI Programs
Stan Soocher
2024 starts off with court decisions and procedural rulings that took shape in 2023 in lawsuits that were filed over the collision of creative content with generative AI programs. Most of the complaints allege copyright infringement and related claims prompted by the unlicensed copyright works that AI companies input into their AI programs.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
How Likely FTC’s Comments On Copyright & AI May Become Policy
Isha Marathe
The FTC said that the misuse of training data like infringing on a work’s copyright license is tantamount to unfair competition, thus implicating consumer protection with copyright policy and securing the agency’s jurisdiction in the regulatory space.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Interviews With Defense Lawyers In Authors’ AI Suit Against Meta
Ross Todd
Whether there’s a fair use right to use copyrighted texts to train learning language models (LLMs) such as LLaMA is one of the central legal questions facing companies developing generative artificial intelligence. District Judge Chhabria then knocked out a significant chunk of the plaintiffs’ initial claims — a win for Meta’s legal team. Following are interviews about the case with these defense lawyers.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable court filings in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Entertainment Law & Finance Is Going Digital Only. Here’s What You Need to Know.
Steve Salkin
The final print edition of Entertainment Law & Finance will be our January issue.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Ninth Circuit Focuses On Extrinsic Test In Ruling On Choreography Copyright
Stan Soocher
Reversing and remanding, the Ninth Circuit emphasized: “The district court’s approach of reducing choreography to ‘poses’ is fundamentally at odds with the way we analyze copyright claims for other art forms, like musical compositions.”
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Entertainment Law & Finance
AI’s Growing Impact On the Gaming Industry
Katherine A. Baker, Jeffrey M. Kelly and Joshua L. Kirschner
The gaming and wagering sector has begun to cross paths with artificial intelligence technology in ways both predictable and unforeseen. As with other industries, AI technology inevitably has found its way into various components of the gaming experience. What is striking, however, is how AI is revolutionizing gaming for operators, regulators, suppliers and patrons alike.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Student Athletes Try to Form Labor Union
Jeffrey Campolongo and Scott M. Badami
Does the ability to receive remuneration for being a college athlete mean that the students are deemed employees of the university? Do employment laws apply? Are labor laws enforced? Does OSHA enter the equation? What about HIPAA concerns relating to medical conditions and injuries?
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable court filings in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Grappling With Post-Term Commissions In Personal Management Contracts
Stan Soocher
A recent judicial decision in a dispute between a management company and r&b artist KEM involved in part whether discussions about extending the term of years between the parties and increasing the manager’s commission were binding, even though post-term commissions weren’t discussed.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Web of Rights In Digital Sports Memorabilia
Andrew Dana
Here’s a look at the jungle of rights, including insights from a top racetrack executive on the use of NFTs. We also lay out some practical tips for athletes, agents and attorneys on how to navigate the digital sports memorabilia landscape, including in contract negotiations and disputes.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
How Energy Drink’s “Purple Rain” Trademark Application Was Rejected
Bridget H. Labutta
Despite the fact that the trademark manual of examining procedure (TMEP) are readily available and searchable online, there are still a large number of applications that trademark examiners and judges must reject because the application does not conform to one or more conditions set forth in the Lanham Act or TMEP.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Read More ›
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable court filings in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Upcoming Event
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Copyright Law Year in Review
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Band Name Rights at Center of Battle Between Founding Isley Brothers
Stan Soocher
A current dispute over a band name that’s worth tracking is one between two founding members of “The Isley Brothers,” the legendary r&b group, that focuses on what happens to ownership of the band name rights when one member stops performing with the group but continues to be involved in its business affairs.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
The Cold War Between NCAA And States Over Athletes’ NILs
Andrew Hope/Michael A. Mora
Over the past four years, the NCAA aggressively lobbied Congress to pass a uniform NIL standard. Roughly a dozen bills have been sponsored by Democrats and Republicans alike, though none has ever advanced to a vote. Consequently, it appears increasingly likely that the courts will be called upon once again to intervene.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
How D.C. Fed. Court Denied Copyright to AI-Created Artwork
Robert W. Clarida and Thomas Kjellberg
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia recently upheld a final refusal by the U.S. Copyright Office to register a visual work that was “autonomously created by a computer algorithm running on a machine,” which the plaintiff called the Creativity Machine and identified as the “author” of the work.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable court filings in entertainment law.
Read More ›
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Read More ›
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Upcoming Events
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
National Conference of Personal Managers Interchange 2023
33rd Annual Entertainment Law Institute
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Force Majeure Clauses Are Taking Center Stage In Uncertain Times
Michelle Davis
Force majeure is lurking in the shadows of the Hollywood strikes, offering struggling studios a potential lifeline out of debt. But the best attorneys and the strongest contracts are proactive, rather than reactive. Thus, consider the following drafting tips to strengthen your force majeure language now, in the calm before the next storm.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Impact of New U.S. Guidance for O-1B Visa On TV and Movie Industries
George Ernst
This year’s update from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for O-1B visa petitions has knock-on effects for the movie and TV industries. The update has clarified the correct standard of adjudication for an individual with both elements of an O-1B artist and O-1B motion-picture-and-television-industry (MPTV) classification, meaning situations where a foreign national will be working in the U.S. as an artist, but some of their work will be in MPTV.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Termination Notices and Copyright Act Claims Accruals
Thomas Kjellberg and Robert W. Clarida
Termination is not automatic. It may be effected only through affirmative action on the part of the author or his or her statutory successors, who must serve an advance notice, signed by or on behalf of all of those entitled to terminate the grant, on the current copyright owner within specified time limits and under specified conditions.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On The Move
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
Read More ›
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Fresh Filings
Entertainment Law & Finance Staff
Notable court filings in entertainment law.
Read More ›
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Summary Judgment Denied Defendant in Declaratory Action by Producer of To Kill a Mockingbird Broadway Play Seeking Amateur Theatrical Rights
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Entertainment Law & Finance
U.S. Tax Court Considers Whether Net Operating Losses from Film Production Companies Are Deductible
Stan Soocher
Structuring finances for independent film productions isn’t for the faint of heart, especially where there are multiple entities formed in different states involved in the productions; loans involving different entity members; and efforts on tax returns to deduct net operating losses (NOLs).
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Entertainment Law & Finance
More Lawsuits Enter AI/Content Creators War
Riley Brennan and Allison Dunn
The litigation warfront over the use of entertainment content in artificial intelligence software is rapidly escalating.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Insurance Issues In AI-Related Risks
Cassandre Coyer
Most entertainment industry organizations have by now heard the warning bells of risks that come with the use of artificial intelligence technology, from data privacy and cybersecurity threats to potential copyright infringement and discrimination claims. In face of the recent spike in AI-related litigation, such risks could soon prove costly, leaving one last barrier of defense for entertainment companies that use AI: insurance.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
New FTC Guidelines for Social Media Influencers
Brad Kutner
Internet celebrities with big social-media followings are often approached for advertising and marketing deals, and the money flowing from these third-party arrangements can be in the millions. But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) moved to update the guidelines for those who profit from such arrangements, and lawyers are saying the new rules involve big but unsurprising changes.
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