Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
Breach of Contract Claim Can Proceed over Cruz Campaign's Use of Songs in Videos
The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington found a music licensing firm could proceed with its breach of contract claim over use of two songs in videos made by Ted Cruz's presidential campaign. Lepona Inc. v. Cruz for President, C16-0658RSM. Co-defendant Madison McQueen, an ad agency, obtained licensing agreements on the Cruz campaign's behalf from plaintiff Audiosocket for a song by co-plaintiff Sarah Schachner and for one by co-plaintiff Brad Couture. But the agreements prohibited the use of the two songs for “political purposes (including, but not limited to, supporting or opposing any government policy, government official, political action, or candidate for political office).” The defendants nevertheless used each song as the soundtrack for campaign ad videos. Audiosocket doesn't own or have exclusive rights to license the songs, but Madison McQueen and the Cruz campaign argued Audiosocket's contract claim was preempted by the songwriters' copyright infringement claims. Chief District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez noted: “The Ninth Circuit has found in other licensing agreement actions that preemption does not apply.” Chief Judge Martinez concluded on the defendants' motion to dismiss: “Audiosocket seeks to hold Defendants liable for alleged breaches of their Licensing Agreements, specifically the use of the musical compositions for political purposes and cable television ads, both of which were prohibited by the Agreements. ' [T]he Court is not convinced that such claims are preempted by the Copyright Act.”
ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCESS TO THE SINGLE SOURCE OF OBJECTIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS, PRACTICAL INSIGHTS, AND NEWS IN ENTERTAINMENT LAW.
Already a have an account? Sign In Now Log In Now
For enterprise-wide or corporate acess, please contact Customer Service at [email protected] or 877-256-2473
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.
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
In recent years, there has been a growing number of dry cleaners claiming to be "organic," "green," or "eco-friendly." While that may be true with respect to some, many dry cleaners continue to use a cleaning method involving the use of a solvent called perchloroethylene, commonly known as perc. And, there seems to be an increasing number of lawsuits stemming from environmental problems associated with historic dry cleaning operations utilizing this chemical.