Entertainment and Sports Law

Breach-of-Contract Claim Can Continue Over Refusal to Exercise Option to Retain Anti-Vaccination Actress California Court Rules on Intersection Between Anti-SLAPP Law and Movie Trailer

2023 is shaping up to be a big year for small claims. Since making its debut in June of 2022, the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) has received over 250 claims, and at least 11 have made it to the "active phase," with more on the way. Active phase means a respondent was served, failed to "opt out," and now the esteemed three-member tribunal of copyright experts may finally get a chance to make some rulings.

The FTX bankruptcy scandal that has shaken the largely unregulated cryptocurrency world has slowed but isn't likely to end the roll-out of celebrity-related, non-fungible digital token (NFT) offerings. But how might the FTX story impact a push for federal regulation of the NFT market?

A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.

A look at moves among attorneys, law firms, companies and other players in entertainment law.

COVID-19 Insurance Coverage Affirmed for Cancellation of Tina Turner Musical MTV Floribama Shore Overcomes Trademark Infringement Claim New York Appellate Division Reinstates Lawsuit Alleging Misappropriation of Reality TV Concept Ninth Circuit Affirms Film Clip In Talent Acting Reel Was Fair Use

When it comes to expressive content, disputes over trademark rights in titles of creative works are commonly fought under the federal Lanham Act. Many of these battles play out in courts in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has well-developed legal guidelines on the subject — many of them from lawsuits that have arisen in the entertainment industry.

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut sided with the family of a production company executive in finding that the wife of late Broadway lyricist Bob Merrill had no right, under §304(c) of the U.S. Copyright Act, to cancel a more than 50-year-old royalty agreement between the executive and Merrill.