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Entertainment Law & Finance
Recent Court Views on “Making Available” Controversy in Copyright Infringement
Stan Soocher
Federal courts have long disagreed over whether the unauthorized “making available” of a plaintiff’s works to the public is sufficient to constitute copyright infringement under the U.S. Copyright Act. Two June District Court decisions demonstrated the differences between the views of the Fourth and Ninth Circuits.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Does Insurance Policy Cover Media Office COVID-19 Closure?
Howard B. Epstein and Theodore A. Keyes
According to news reports, and judging from the plethora of lawsuits filed seeking insurance coverage for lost income incurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, insurance companies are for the most part denying claims for business interruption losses. The type of insurance claim at issue may make a difference.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Commentary: Claims Filing Time Issues on Copyright Ownership from Everly Bros. Case
J. Alexander Lawrence
Don and Phil Everly’s flawless harmonies that resulted in a string of hits in the 1950s and '60s regrettably ended in acrimony. The Sixth Circuit recently issued a decision in a dispute between Phil’s heirs and Don over copyright ownership of the No. 1 hit “Cathy’s Clown,” in which concurring Judge Eric E. Murphy raised important questions about when the statute of limitations should begin to run in copyright cases and whether courts have been correctly applying the law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Counsel Concerns: Ice Cube’s Big3 Suit Against League’s Lawyers Ends Quietly
Dan Packel
Three-on-three basketball league Big3, co-owned by hip hop artist and actor Ice Cube, quietly abandoned a lawsuit accusing the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan of putting its lucrative relationship with the Republic of Qatar ahead of its attorney-client obligations to the fledgling sports project.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Defense Counsel Discuss Outcome in Dance Steps Case
Jenna Greene
Kirkland & Ellis has notched a win in cutting-edge litigation that questions the protectability of dance steps, what constitutes choreography and the relationship between copyright, and right of publicity and trademark law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Right of Publicity Laws Don’t Pierce CDA Immunity Shield
Second Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Wolf of Wall Street Defamation Suit
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Federal Appeals Courts Weight in On Accruals for Copyright Infringement vs. Ownership Claims
Stan Soocher
The U.S. Copyright Act states that a civil copyright action must be filed within three years of its accrual. How this applies to copyright infringement and to copyright ownership claims, including in the same case, isn’t always clear. But two recent federal appeals courts decisions have provided guidance on the differences in accrual for each of these copyright claims.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Davis Wright Forms Entertainment Industry Reopening Advisory Group
Dylan Jackson
As millions of Americans turned to television and movies for diversion and comfort amid the coronavirus pandemic and resulting business shutdowns, the companies that create that content were left scratching their heads about how to resume business safely when they are allowed. Davis Wright Tremaine launched a new group in hopes of providing the answers.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Soccer Federation Litigators Discuss Recent Ruling in Equal Pay Case
Jenna Greene
Latham & Watkins partners Michele Johnson and Jamie Wine turned the tide for the U.S. Soccer Federation in a high-profile — and highly sensitive — wage discrimination lawsuit by the U.S. Senior Women’s National Team. In this Q&A, Johnson and Wine discuss their perspective on the case
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Agreement to Amend CA’s AB5 Helps Music Industry
Sidney S. Fohrman and Ariel D. Shpigel
After over a year-and-a-half of lobbying efforts by the music industry and negotiations with lawmakers, it was recently announced that AB5 would be amended to accommodate musicians’ unique niche in the California economy.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
9th Circuit Says Copyright Attorney Fees Available in Declaratory Suits
Scott Graham
A declaratory judgment action for copyright abandonment can give rise to fee shifting under the Copyright Act, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in a case of first impression.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players On the Move
Kibkabe Araya
A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
“Wild America” Trademark Is No Protection Against TV Series’ Names
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Perspective on Impact of COVID-19 on Entertainment Industry
Stan Soocher
Leslie José Zigel, Chair of the Entertainment, Media & Technology Group at Greenspoon Marder offers his thoughts on entertainment industry issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Counsel Concerns: COVID-19’s Impact On Sports Lawyers
Patrick Smith
While every industry is dealing with massive upheaval as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, few are as visible as sports and entertainment. While many who practice in this area anticipate a slowdown in overall legal work, certain pockets of work are being pushed to the forefront, creating demand for the services these attorneys provide.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
TRO Bid in Arts Case Results in COVID-19 Rebuke from Judge
Jenna Greene
At this moment in COVID-19 time, if your case involved stopping the sale of counterfeit unicorn products on the Internet, sorry, that wouldn’t be an emergency. That was the message from U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger, in a decision denying a request for a temporary restraining order filed on behalf of Art Ask Agency, the exclusive licensee for the fantasy art of British artist Anne Stokes, who is popular among the Dungeons and Dragons crowd.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
UMG Defense Lawyers Discuss Ruling in Artists’ Suit Over Warehouse Fire
Jenna Greene
In April, a U.S. District Judge tossed a six-count, $100 million-complaint against Universal Music Group that was filed after a 2008 warehouse fire that reportedly destroyed master recordings. The class action was originally brought by or on behalf of recording artists. After the ruling, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Scott Edelman and Deborah Stein and associate Nathaniel Bach, who served as defense counsel in the litigation, discussed the case.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Defending Suits Brought By Copyright Trolls
Nancy J. Mertzel
An overview of copyright troll litigation and explores potential litigation strategies for responding to troll cases.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Copyright Termination Claims Found Timely, But Loan-Out Companies Can’t Terminate Copyright Assignments
Judge Unhappy With Damon Dash’s Trial Behavior
New York Federal Court Sees No Copyright Infringement or False Endorsement in Use of Mural in Film
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Entertainment Law & Finance
“Potentially Monumental” Ninth Circuit En Banc Decision in Infringement Case Over Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven”
Robert W. Clarida and Robert J. Bernstein
For the past five years, the copyright bar and the music industry have carefully followed the many twists and turns of the potentially monumental infringement case that asserted that the opening of the iconic Led Zeppelin song “Stairway to Heaven” was copied from the introduction of a little-known 1967 instrumental “Taurus,” written by the late Randy California. In March 2020, a unanimous en banc panel of the entire Ninth Circuit affirmed portions of a prior three-judge appellate ruling that “Stairway” did not infringe the Spirit song — and in the process resolved some thorny issues involving substantial similarity and copyright scope that will be important for future litigants
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Kozinski Angle In 9th Circuit’s Led Zeppelin Ruling
Scott Graham
Defendants Led Zeppelin and its music labels were the winners in the copyright decision by the Ninth Circuit over the song “Stairway to Heaven.” But the estate of songwriter Randy Wolfe (p/k/a California) wasn’t the only one who got the short end. Among the collateral damage from the ruling was a 2002 precedent written by former Chief Judge Alex Kozinski that endorsed the so-called “inverse-ratio” rule.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
CASE Act Explained
Ryan W. Morris
The Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act is a proposed congressional amendment to the current copyright statute that would create an alternative dispute resolution program for copyright small claims and other legal proceedings.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
A Primer on Rights in Video Game Avatars
Andrea Perez
Recent lawsuits have grappled with the fair use of one’s likeness in video games, attempting to apply established order to a changing field.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Followup: PBS Wins Verdict In Suit By Fired TV Show Host Tavis Smiley
Katheryn Tucker
It was a trial to remember for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner Grace Speights, lead defense attorney for PBS against Tavis Smiley, former long-running…
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Los Angeles Federal Judge Tosses Out Jury’s Infringement Verdict Against Katy Perry in “Dark Horse” Song Case
Sales Agreement for Film Assets of Distributor in Bankruptcy Doesn’t Affect Separate Lender for One of Debtor’s Movies
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Key Provisions in Film Location Agreements
Maxwell Briskman Stanfield
Property owners granting production companies access to their properties seems like a no-brainer — who wouldn’t want their property featured in that next big blockbuster movie or hit television series? However, when filming occurs on private property, a location agreement is a must, from the perspectives of both the production company and the property owner.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Swedish Music Industry Views: Part Two
Stan Soocher
Among other things, the article discusses the Swedish music industry perspective on the European Union’s Copyright Directive, the growth of multi-country music licensing hubs and the impact of Brexit.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Exercising the Extraterritorial Limitation on U.S. Copyright Law
Robert J. Bernstein and Robert W. Clarida
A necessary element of secondary liability claims is an underlying infringement of U.S. copyright law by a third party. If the activities abroad are not subject to the law, the predicate direct infringement required for the imposition of secondary liability cannot be established.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
‘Vanicorn’ Lawsuit Filed over Pixar, Disney Film
Scott Graham
A unicorn-loving tattoo artist alleges that Pixar and Disney have tricked her into letting them use her “Vanicorn” in the upcoming film Onward. Her suit accuses the companies of copyright infringement, and violations of state and federal laws protecting artwork.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Case Study: Swedish Music Industry Views as European Union Countries Work on Drafting Home Laws for Enacting EU Copyright Directive
Stan Soocher
This article is Part One of a two-part article. Part Two will appear in our March 2020 issue.
This article examines the Copyright Directive and music-industry structure issues through the lens of Sweden, which has both a robust music business and a strong technology sector, two divergent perspectives in the development of the directive.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
New Lawsuit Over Meek Mill Documentary
Max Mitchell
A former Philadelphia police officer has alleged she was defamed in an episode of Free Meek, the documentary series that was made available on Amazon Prime last year.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Legal Perspective On Major League Baseball Scandal
Sue Reisinger
Two Major League Baseball in-house lawyers, both former prosecutors, led the investigation into the Houston Astros cheating scandal.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Jury Award in 'Walking Dead' Stuntman Fatality Suit
Greg Land and Katheryn Hayes Tucker
A Gwinnett County, GA, jury awarded $8.6 million to the family of a stuntman killed during the production of a Walking Dead TV-series episode in 2017.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
California Court of Appeal Finds Film Producer’s Anti-SLAPP Free Speech Argument Is Valid Against Lawsuit By Investor
No Implied Covenant to File Song Cue Sheets for Foreign Broadcast
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Entertainment Law & Finance
How Judges Are Interpreting Supreme Court’s Copyright ‘Registration’ Ruling
Stan Soocher
In Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com LLC, the U.S. Supreme Court held that, under 17 U.S.C. §411(a), “registration occurs, and a copyright claimant may commence an infringement suit, when the Copyright Office registers a copyright” — that is, acts on a registration application, rather than when an applicant delivers the registration materials to the Copyright Office.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
What Would End of Film Studio Consent Decrees Mean?
Karen Hoffman Lent and Kenneth Schwartz
In November, the DOJ asked a federal district court to terminate the Paramount Consent Decrees, a set of rules governing major film studios for the last 70 years. In effect, these rules prohibited movie studios from owning downstream movie theaters and banned a variety of vertical agreements, such as block booking — the practice of bundling multiple films into one theater license.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Counsel Concerns: 3rd Circuit Decides Lawyers’ Dispute over Video Game Litigation Client
P.J. D’Annunzio
A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a Philadelphia lawyer’s suit alleging that Los Angeles litigation boutique Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht acted in bad faith by failing to follow through with a $160,000 settlement in a dispute over attorney fees.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
IP Issues and Esports Athletes
Frank Ready
A new esports-centric survey released by the law firm of Foley & Lardner projects that esports revenues will climb above the $1 billion mark this year. But the increased stakes and growing sophistication of the industry will likely not be without their headaches.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Challenges to Evidence of Copyright Ownership
Stan Soocher
There has been a long-term debate over whether sound recordings can be copyright works made for hire. Sound recordings don’t appear in the list of works for hire set out in §101 of the Copyright Act of 1976, though record labels argue recordings can be deemed so as a “compilation” or a “contribution to a collective work,” per §101.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Players on the Move
Dan Clark
Copyright Office General Counsel Moves to MPAA
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Film and Music Cases Result in Different Outcomes for Default Judgment Motions
Stan Soocher
Non-payment of monies is an all-too-common complaint in the entertainment industry, with frustrated plaintiffs in many cases seeking default judgments against defendants who fail to respond to lawsuits seeking payment. Two new Central District of California federal court decisions illustrate — after the judges sort through the factors for determining whether to grant a default judgment — how consideration of the amount of money at issue resulted in different outcomes on whether to enter a default judgment.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Editor’s Note
Stan Soocher
We sadly note the November passing of long-time Entertainment Law & Finance editorial board member Jay Rosenthal.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Photo Cases Test Copyright Law and Embedded Tweets
Raychel Lean
A New Yorker who settled a copyright lawsuit against several news outlets over a photo he took of star quarterback Tom Brady and Boston Celtics manager Danny Ainge has struck again. This time he’s suing a radio station owner in Florida federal courts in a case that could test the boundaries of an emerging area of copyright law, raising major questions about how media companies incorporate social media posts into online stories.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
A Primer for Forming Loan-Out Corporations
Maxwell Briskman Stanfield
In the entertainment industry, it can take years for actors, musicians and others to reach a point where their efforts begin bringing in a notable return. If and when these types of clients begin to make a consistently significant income, one method that deserves consideration for protecting the hard-earned pay is to organize a loan-out corporation.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Can Video Game Companies Be Liable for Users’ Money Laundering?
Frank Ready
Criminals are hoping to use video game platforms to score more than just points. By using ill-gotten gains to purchase in-game currency that can then be exchanged for real cash, bad actors have found a way to launder money that is difficult for both gaming providers and the authorities to track.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
How Will NCAA’s New Policy on Endorsements By Athletes Play Out
Sue Reisinger
University general counsel and sports lawyers across the country have been trying to figure out their next steps in the controversial world of marketing student athletes.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Trial to Start in Suit over Walking Dead Stuntman Death
Katheryn Hayes Tucker
The trial over a death on the set of the Walking Dead zombie drama will hinge on one key question: What happened in the moments before a stuntman plunged off a balcony and missed an airbag 20 feet below.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Filers Beware: No Expedited Discovery in Copyright Suits
Charles Toutant
Litigation tactics employed by frequent filers of copyright infringement suits may face heavy criticism in light of a recent ruling by a federal judge in New Jersey.
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Bit Parts
Stan Soocher
Alleged Verbal Agreement For Promotion of Concerts Found Unenforceable
“Chapel of Love” Singer’s Niece Fails to Show Court in Royalties Dispute Had Personal Jurisdiction over Defendant
Fair Use Defense Can Be Raised Under California’s Sound Recording Misappropriation Statute
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Entertainment Law & Finance
Some Guidance on Federal Securities Law and Film Financing Disputes
Stan Soocher
Disputes over film financing agreements are common, but there are few court decisions that address film financing dustups involving §10(b) of the federal Securities Exchange Act. Now the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida has issued a ruling that addresses the pleading requirements for alleging a §10(b) violation, in litigation between an investor and a film production company.
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