Commercial Law

Buy-sell agreements are arrangements between owners of a business where one or more owners agree that they will purchase the interest of an owner who withdraws or becomes deceased. Essentially, a buy-sell agreement is similar to prenuptial agreement between business owners, which details the financial aspect of the unwinding of the business relationship.

One of the motivations for enacting the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was the acknowledgement by Congress of "the ease with which pirates could copy and distribute a copyrightable work in digital form was overwhelming the capacity of conventional copyright enforcement to find and enjoin unlawfully copied material." Among the provisions created to redress this rampant infringement were the prohibitions against: 1) removing copyright management information (CMI); and 2) circumventing technological measures in place to prevent infringement. Each is controversial.

This article is a follow-up to the author's September, 2015, review of best practices for obtaining spousal guaranties in equipment financing transactions in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Hawkins v. Community Bank of Raymore.

Organized and meaningful data has been leveraged in progressive organizations for years, but now that data and information is highly accessible and easily consumable via the ever-expanding digital mesh, enterprise-level expectations and related legal business impact have been elevated. With this new reality come many questions.

Obviously, data breaches aren't trust builders, but many companies are skeptical even of those parties with whom they share confidential data, including their own vendors.

The legendary and now deceased Prince ' singer, songwriter, producer and man of myriad other talents ' kept a bevy of high-profile lawyers busy during the past three decades. Prince developed a somewhat complicated relationship with the Internet, and fought to protect his brand and music against unauthorized use. And for that he needed lawyers, lots of them.

The buzz phrase "Internet of Things" is seemingly everywhere. What is it, what can it do for us, and what concerns does it present? More specifically, while the Internet of Things (IoT) presents tremendous opportunities for businesses, are there corresponding risks, or elements of the IoT that businesses should consider staying away from?

Hourly rates can be a moving target as clients negotiate down firms' published rates, but in a low-demand era where lawyers need every dollar they can bring in, it seems associates are the ones troubled lately with how rates are set.