Features
Law Firm Security Pressures Alleviated With Financial Strategies
We know the consumer-industry stories of hackers infiltrating Target and, more recently, Home Depot. Law firms are now at the center of the storm because they store some of their clients' most sensitive business information and are viewed by criminal elements as a less-defended path to that data. Firms must take care to understand and respond to evolving security trends with response strategies.
Features
Digital Signatures In the Legal Market
Automated signing solutions are all around us: at the supermarket checkout; when we receive a package; at the doctor's office. Despite this, paper-based signing still finds its way into our regular operations, and too often remains there unquestioned.
Features
Broadway Musicals Economics
Being an investor, producer or creator involved in a Broadway musical ' whether a new show with original music and lyrics, a "catalogue/jukebox" musical using pre-existing songs or a revival ' may yield enormous amounts of money, both short term and long term, if the show is a hit, but can result in enormous financial losses if it fails to attract an audience.
Features
The Copyright Office's Revised Compendium's Views on Digital Content, Copyrightability
Much has been written about the so-called "monkey selfie" and the dispute about whether nature photographer David Slater owns a photo snapped by a macaque monkey. As entertaining as that story is, there are more practical and far-reaching consequences that arise out the Copyright Office's overhaul of its standards and practices. This is especially true for the type of digital and Internet-based businesses and technologies that operate on the entertainment industry landscape.
Features
EEOC Issues New Guidance on Pregnancy
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which has made discrimination against pregnant workers a focal point of its enforcement priorities over the past few years, ratcheted up its pressure on employers by publishing a new "Enforcement Guidance on Pregnancy Discrimination and Related Issues."
Features
Missed in Translation: Bringing Your U.S. Franchise Agreement to Canada
With a diversified consumer base, a stable economy, and a well-established legal system, Canada is a receptive jurisdiction for expanding U.S. franchise systems, as long as the U.S. franchisor plays by Canada's rules.
Features
Full Disclosure Necessary for Patent Applicants
On Sept. 26, 2014, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in <i>American Calcar, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co.</i> Judges Prost and Wallach affirmed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California that three American Calcar patents were unenforceable due to inequitable conduct. Judge Newman filed a strongly worded dissent.
Features
Ellington Heirs Lose Bid to Change Foreign Royalties Calculations
The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, decided that a copyright renewal that Duke Ellington signed in 1961 didn't unfairly deprive his heirs of a portion of foreign royalties on the music giant's works, such as "Mood Indigo" and "Sophisticated Lady."
Columns & Departments
Court Watch
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act allows employees to sue their employers for various employment-related causes of action. Courts in two recent cases have ruled that actions brought, pursuant to the FLSA, by franchisees and franchisee employees, sufficiently alleged that franchisors were "employers" to withstand motions to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6).
Features
What Happens to Your Digital Estate After You Die?
Ever wonder what happens to your social media accounts, e-mail, online texts and other digital content when you die? Do they simply expire, leaving nothing behind but digital dust? Or can you authorize someone to take them over after you pass on? And if so, what powers would such a person possess?
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