Cover Story Entertainment Law & Finance

A recent New York federal court decision in a dispute between a broker that sublicenses program content and a broadcaster that sublicensed content from the broker considered the interaction of contract language and extra-contractual elements of the parties' relationship to determine whether a fiduciary relationship existed.

2024 starts off with court decisions and procedural rulings that took shape in 2023 in lawsuits that were filed over the collision of creative content with generative AI programs. Most of the complaints allege copyright infringement and related claims prompted by the unlicensed copyright works that AI companies input into their AI programs.

Reversing and remanding, the Ninth Circuit emphasized: "The district court's approach of reducing choreography to 'poses' is fundamentally at odds with the way we analyze copyright claims for other art forms, like musical compositions."

A recent judicial decision in a dispute between a management company and r&b artist KEM involved in part whether discussions about extending the term of years between the parties and increasing the manager's commission were binding, even though post-term commissions weren't discussed.

Companies try to protect their reputations from executives who have "gone wild" by including moral turpitude clauses as a basis to terminate executives for cause under their employment agreements. Similarly, in the context of employment disputes, companies try to protect themselves through the use of non-disclosure, non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions in settlement agreements.

The big news in the fantasy sports arena this past summer was the announcement that competitors FanDuel and DraftKings, which make up more than 90% of the online market, would end their merger bid following the Federal Trade Commission's filing of an antitrust lawsuit against the companies. Now, there's good news for FanDuel and DraftKings on a different front, involving the use of athletes' personality components.

Because there are so many new digital channels for possible intellectual property infringement, knowledge of the various mechanisms available to combat the issue is vital to enabling entertainment industry owners to protect their brand.

Barclays Center, Levi's Stadium, Golden 1 Center, Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hard Rock Stadium — any sports fan or concert-goer can rattle off these names as venues of spectacular games and top-notch musical performances. What is behind those names? Naming rights transactions, which are increasingly popular thanks to their unique intersection of advertising, promotional opportunities, and headline-grabbing financial terms.