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Jeffrey L. Allen has been appointed Vice President of Legal Affairs at Warner Music Group in Nashville. He previously served as Senior Attorney at the Bradley law firm in Nashville where he focused on intellectual property and entertainment litigation, as well as a variety of entertainment transactional matters such as domestic and foreign licensing agreements, distribution agreements, independent film production, joint-venture record label and publishing company agreements, master recording agreements, personal management agreements and in the television and sports industries. … Ex-Heineken lawyer J. Carlos Kuri has replaced Heather VanDyke as general counsel at SXSW LLC, the company that stages the annual media conference and music festival, months after VanDyke announced she plans to leave the company to try to start a family. A job description for the general counsel role that VanDyke posted on LinkedIn in August, when she announced her imminent departure after nearly seven years with SXSW, said the company’s top lawyer would report to CEO Roland Swenson and manage a “lean legal department” whose responsibilities include drafting and revising contracts, conducting legal risk assessments and managing outside legal services. VanDyke said she planned to continue at SXSW on a part-time basis through the March 2022 festival. Kuri was senior vice president and general counsel at Heineken USA for nearly two years. Prior to joining the brewing company, he spent 11 years at Red Bull, where he held various legal roles. His last position at the company was senior vice president and general counsel. … Jamal Haughton is joining Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. as executive vice president and general counsel. Haughton comes from Samsung Electronics America, where he served as senior vice president and general counsel since 2016. MSG Entertainment operates Madison Square Garden, as well as other entertainment venues, brands and networks, and is building MSG Sphere, a $1.8 billion Las Vegas venue in partnership with casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. In addition to leading the legal department, Haughton will direct the company’s corporate and business legal affairs. Haughton will report to MSG Entertainment executive chairman and CEO Jim Dolan. He replaces MSG Entertainment executive vice president and general counsel Scott Packman, who departed the company in November month. Prior to his time at Samsung, Haughton spent 10 years at Cablevision Systems Corp. Madison Square Garden Sports Corp., the company that spun off MSG Entertainment in 2020, was itself a spin-off of Cablevision’s entertainment assets. … Entertainment dealmaker Lindsay Conner has joined O’Melveny & Myers in its Century City office. Conner was previously the leader of the entertainment group at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips. Conner said he was drawn to O’Melveny’s high-quality entertainment practice and deep expertise in cross-border deals. “Globalization is one of the two most important trends affecting the entertainment industry,” Conner said. “I recognized that years ago, and I made a special effort to develop expertise in China and elsewhere to meet that need.” Prior to joining O’Melveney, Conner’s cross-border work included representing the owners of the YouTube channel Cocomelon in the nine-figure sale of their company Treasure Studio to United Kingdom-based Moonbug Entertainment, and representing KC Global Media Entertainment in its agreement to acquire four pan-Asian television networks owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. He also advised Huayi Brothers Media Corp. in one of the first major Chinese investments in Hollywood films to successfully close. The deal was comprised of an 18-film, three-year co-finance and distribution agreement with STX and a loan facility with East West Bank. That led to an introduction to Perfect World Pictures, which Conner subsequently represented in a $500 million, 50-film, five-year deal with Universal Pictures. The deal remains the largest-ever Chinese investment in a Hollywood film slate. Conner, who expects to bring the majority of his clients with him to O’Melveny, has also represented AT&T, Showtime Entertainment, East West Bank, New Republic Pictures, Solstice Studios, Temasek and Content Partners.
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California Court of Appeal Greenlights New Trial In Columbo Net Profits Case
By Stan Soocher
The 1971 agreement between Universal City Studios and creators of the TV series Columbo permitted Universal to be a distributor of Columbo “photoplays.” But the contract parties failed to include “just one more thing” when negotiating their 17-page memo deal and two-page rider: a definition of the key term “photoplays.”
SAG-AFTRA’s Influencer Agreement and Waiver
By Francelina M. Perdomo
For years, the legal framework governing the collaboration between influencers, advertisers and brands has been comparable to the Wild West, presenting multiple legal challenges to navigate. Influencer marketing exponentially grew when the COVID-19 pandemic drew performers to social media as the principal outlet to connect with their audience. As a result, SAG-AFTRA decided to venture into the fast-growing influencer market.
Commentary: How the Music Industry Can Learn from Cable When It Comes to ISPs and Infringement
By Keith Hauprich
In the last two decades, the music industry and, more specifically, songwriters, producers and recording artists have been losing the value of their efforts to online piracy. Perhaps a business-to-business solution can be found between the music industry and cable providers.
Second Circuit Rules on Fantasy Sports ‘Game of Skill’ Controversy
By Peter Brown
During the 2017 to 2019 baseball seasons, allegations were made that individual baseball clubs were engaged in electronic “sign stealing.” Shortly after this activity was acknowledged by Major League Baseball's Commissioner, a class action suit was filed, alleging that MLB made actionable misrepresentations that had an impact on the fantasy baseball games.