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Clause & Effect: <b>Courts Rule on Audit Rights, Moral Clauses, And TV Talent Rights in Program Trademarks
The following article is a roundup of recent court decisions on provisions in entertainment industry contracts.
Songwriting and recording agreements usually include a provision covering artist royalty audit rights. (See the article in this issue on the California law that takes effect Jan. 1, 2005 regarding audit rights in recording agreements.) But what happens when a songwriter or recording artist waits a lengthy time to conduct an audit of the music publisher's or record label's accounting books? In a case decided in December 2004 by the Court of Appeal of California, Second Appellate District, Division Eight, a music publisher argued that a songwriter's decade-long delay in conducting a royalty audit amounted to a lack of diligence that barred the songwriter from using the delayed-discovery doctrine in his royalty suit against the publisher. However, the court of appeal reversed the lower court's grant of summary judgment that had been issued in favor of the music publisher. Weatherly v. Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), B170395.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.