Features

How To Determine Duration of Royalty Contract That Doesn’t Contain Specific End Date
In 1997, Supertramp members Roger Hodgson and Rick Davies, the band’s main songwriters, agreed to share their songwriting and publishing income with the group’s three other members — John Helliwell, Robert Siebenberg and Douglas Thomson — and their personal manager David Margereson. But there was one key point missing in the participation memorandum: The agreement didn’t state how long it would remain in effect. It wasn’t until August 2025 that the issue was decided, by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Features

Issues in Reverse Morals Clauses In Talent Influencer Contracts With Product Brands
The next company general counsel to slide a morality clause across the desk for a celebrity or web influencer to sign shouldn't be surprised if that talent also whips out a morals clause, one to cancel the contract if the company's brand acts immorally.
Features

Ninth Circuit, Texas Supreme Court Weigh in On Live Nation Litigations
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit called Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s requirement of new procedures for mass arbitration claims unenforceable and rejected the company's bid to keep a proposed class action lawsuit alleging inflated ticket prices out of court.
Features

Mass. Appeals Court Holds That Email to Landlord Constituted 'Effective Notice' to Prevent Automatic Lease Renewal
Despite a provision in a commercial lease that prohibited electronic notice, the Massachusetts Appeals Court sided with a tenant in holding that an email to its landlord constituted effective notice to opt out of an automatic five-year lease extension.
Features

CA Appeals Court Rules Hobbs & Shaw Film Dispute Must Be Heard By Court
Universal City Studios will have to settle a contract dispute with a producer from the Fast & Furious movie franchise in court after a California appeals court ruled the entertainment company could not enforce an arbitration agreement.
Features

When Is a Promise Enough?: Contractual Duties and Insider Trading
Two criminal appeals before the Second Circuit require the Court of Appeals to decide whether the violation of a fiduciary relationship is required to create insider trading liability or if a breach of contract is sufficient.
Features

A Practitioner's Guide to Key Provisions In Film Director Agreements
Film remains a director's medium, considering that the director will always give shape and vision to the writer's words.
Features

Fifth Circuit Holds Asset Purchaser Unable to Acquire Rejected License Agreement
A license agreement "deemed rejected by operation of law" could not be acquired under a court-approved asset purchase agreement, held the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Columns & Departments
Bit Parts
BOSTON Band Principal Scholz Loses Appeal in “Original” Member Billing Dispute Against Former BOSTON Guitarist Goudreau<br>Former Band Member's Counterclaims Against Commodores Are Dismissed
Columns & Departments

Counsel Concerns: Ambiguous Offer for Daddy Yankee to Settle Suit Ends in Attorney Fees Denial
Attorneys who sued “Despacito” artist Daddy Yankee for defamation should have heeded the song's title and drafted their settlement offer slowly, a federal appellate court ruled.
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